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'SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE 



OE, 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PECULIAR INSTITUTION.' 



BY 

Rfv. PKTER RANDOLPH 

AX EJIANCIPATED SLAVE. 



SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED 



BOSTON: 



HED FOR THE AUTHOR, 



1855. 



t 

I 

I 
/ 

SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE 

OR, 

I L L U S T R A T I X S 



^PECULIAR institution; 



By peter RANDOLPH 

AN EMANCIPATED SLAVE. 



SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR 
18 5 5. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-five, 

By peter RANDOLPH, 

In the Clerk's office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 



P R E F A C E 



In giving the following " Sketches of Slave 
Life" to the public, the writer hopes that, whatever 
may be their literary defects, they will help to increase 
the sympathy now so widely felt for the poor crushed 
and perishing slaves in this land — a land most untru- 
ly styled "the home of the free and the brave." He 
has known what it is to be a slave : and now that he 
has been set free, it is the ruling desire of his heart to 
do something, however feeble it may be, towards effect- 
ing the emancipation of the millions of his afflicted 
brethren, who are still held in the galling chains of 
bondage at the South. Remembering that he has never 
had any education, except such as he has been able to 
pick up for himself, the readers of this little work 
(especially in view of its object) will kindly overlook 
such errors of style as may be found in it. 



4 PEEFACE. 

The writer was formerly owned as a slave bj one 
C. H. Edloe, of Prince George County, Virginia, 
who also owned eighty others. His plantation was lo- 
cated on James River, in what was called upper Bran- 
don. He always seemed to have some conscientious 
scruples in regard to holding slaves, and would not 
join any church, because "he did not believe he could 
be a Christian, and yet be a slaveholder." Six years 
before he died, he made his will, in which he set all his 
slaves free at his death, which took place July 29, 
1844. This was truly a Christian act. More than 
three years passed away, however, before we obtained 
our liberty, when, being compelled to leave the State of 
Virginia, we came to Boston, (sixty-six in number,) 
Sept. 15, 1847, where we were received with Christian 
sympathy and kindness. Men, women and children, 
from twelve months to seventy-five years old, constitu- 
ted our happy company. Some of these have gone the 
way of all the earth : the remainder continue in Mas- 
sachusetts, and are proving to the world, by their con- 
duct, that slaves, when liberated, can take care of 
themselves, and need no master or overseer to drive 
them to their toil. All that they need is — first, free- 
dom — next, encouragement and a fair reward for their 
labor, and a suitable opportunity to improve them- 
selves — without which, no people, black or white, can 



THE EDLOE SLAVES. O 

reasonably be expected to be industrious laborers or 
enlightened citizens. 

]May God hasten the day when not a slave shall be 
found in America, to water her soil with his tears, or 
stain it with his blood ! 

PETER RANDOLPH. 

Boston, May 10, 1855. 



NOTE TO THE PREFACE. 

It was on the morning of the 15th of September, 
1847, that I learned, from a constant and true friend 
to the slave, — Mr. Robert R. Crosby, — that a large 
company of colored people, said to be emancipated 
slaves from Virginia, were then landing from a schoon- 
er at Long Wharf. I immediately went thither, and 
found the report correct. The people in question were 
in part upon the wharf, and some had not yet left the 
vessel. I entered into conversation with several of 
their number, and learned that they had been slaves in 
Prince George county, Virginia, on the estate of Mr. 
Carter H. Edloe. on the James River. Mr. Edbe 



6 



NOTE TO THE PREFACE. 



died in 1844, and by will provided for the emancipation 
of his slaves, and for the payment to each one of fifty 
dollars, whenever they should elect to receive their 
freedom and go out of the State of Virginia. With a 
few of his slaves, for especial reasons, he had dealt 
much more liberally. The provisions of Mr. Edloe's 
will, it would however appear, w^ere not carried out in 
the spirit of the testator, and there is reason to believe 
that the executor designedly deceived and wronged the 
slaves. They were kept at work upon the estate, as 
slaves, for more than three years after their master's 
death, on the pretence that there was not money suffi- 
cient to pay them the sum which the will specified. 
At the end of that time, in despair of obtaining their 
rights under the will, the larger part of the people de- 
termined to take what they could get, which was less 
than fifteen dollars each^ and go to a free State. 
There were sixty-six of them, — of both sexes and of 
all ages, from seventy-five years down to infancy, — 
who decided to go to Boston. Their passage was se- 
cured in the schooner Thomas H. Thompson, Wickson, 
master, by which vessel they arrived in Boston, as 
stated above. 

Such was the story told to me ; and I may add, that 
further inquiries have entirely satisfied me of its cor- 
rectness. I found these emancipated people, without 



THE EDLOE SLAVES. i 

exception, desirous of obtaining situations Avhere they 
might at once go to work, — none fearing but that 
they could support themselves and their families, if 
they could find employment. Of course, I expressed 
my readiness to aid them in obtaining places, if they 
wished to do so. The oifer was gratefully accepted, 
and without much loss of time, places were found, out 
of the city, for about one half of them. The remainder 
found homes and occupation in the city, or its immedi- 
ate vicinity. 

Eight years have now nearly elapsed, during which 
time I have observed the course of these emancipated 
slaves Avith attention and with some curiosity. I re- 
garded the experiment they were making as an exceed- 
ingly interesting one ; such an one as, if successful, 
ought to convince even the most skeptical, of the abil- 
ity of the colored man, even when reared in the igno- 
rance and partial dependence which the condition of 
slavery imposes, to "take care of himself." For this 
was not a company of slaves selected for any special 
capacity, or of such as by their own skill and daring 
had achieved freedom. They were the ordinary work- 
ing force of one plantation, — of all ages and capacities, 
and in various states of health ; and might be presumed 
to be a fair representation of the average condition at 
least of Virginia slaves. The experiment. — if any 



8 



NOTE TO THE PREFACE. 



choose SO to regard it, — has had a fair trial, and has 
resulted, I can truly say, very much to their credit. 
Since the first few months after their arrival, — Tvhen, 
on account of their destitution and the strangeness of 
a new home, occasional help was needed by a number 
of them, — the instances in which they have sought 
charitable aid have been few and infrequent. Even an 
aged and nearly worn-out man of their number for six 
years maintained himself by his daily labor, and only 
ceased to attempt it longer, when told that he must 
desist by reason of infirmity of age, at upwards of four 
score years. Generally, so far as my knowledge ex- 
tends, they have secured for themselves a sufficient 
though frugal living, and some of them have decidedly 
prospered. And in regard to sobriety, honesty, and 
general good conduct, they will not sufier by compari- 
son with any like number of people in the community. - 
It affords me a sincere pleasure to be able to give 
this testimony in behalf of these people, our hardly- 
entreated brethren. For, unusually fortunate as they 
were in having a master so eccentric as to believe that 
his slaves desired liberty and were entitled to it, yet 
their lot in slavery left, as it ever must, on body and 
mind, indelible marks of its blighting power. When 
all the untoward, disheartening, soul-crushing influ- 
ences of their former life are considered, it seems to me 



THE EDLOE SLAVES. 



9 



not less surprising, than it is honorable to themselves, 
that they have used their liberty so justly and so well. 
I think it 'well to subjoin their names and ages, 
from a list taken by me at the time of their arrival. 
Some of them have gone " where the wicked cease from 
troubling, and the weary are at rest.'' 



Lucy Fountix, TG. 
Chas. Fouxtix, ab't 40. 

WxM. FOUNTIN, do. 

Carter Selden, 47, 
wife and six children. 

Levi Scott, about 75. 

Daniel . 

Fraxk Churciiwell, 54. 

Adam Harrison, 55. 

George Mayerson, 45, 
wife and two children. 

BuRRY Robeson, 

wife and two children. 

Davy Mead, 45. 

Patty Mead, his wife. 

TORRINGTON RUFFIN, 36, 

wife and four children. 
William Archy, 32, 

wife and five children. 
Davy Jones, 40. 



Peter Randolph, 27, 

wife and child. 

Anthony Randolph, 24. 

Richard Randolph, 22. 

James Randolph, 10. 

Wyatt Lee, 25, 

wife and two children. 

Andrew Clark, 23, 

wife and child. 

Henry Carter, and wife. 

Amy Richardson, 29. 

two children. 

Judy Griffin, 26, 

two children. 

Fanny Bailey, 30. 

Sam. Jones, 24. 

Richard Whiting. 

Jack Harrison, 29. 

Ralph Webb, 24. 

Peter Taylor, 36. 



10 NOTE TO THE PREFACE. 

The unpretending work, written by one of the above 
sixty-six^ (to the second edition of which this Note is 
added,) is commended to the public as wholly trust- 
worthy, and deserving of their favor. 

SAMUEL MAY, Jr. 

BosTOx, August 3, 1855. 



SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 



The good Anti-Slavery men have very much to contend 
with, in their exertions for the cause of freedom. Many 
people will not believe their statements ; call them unrea- 
sonable and fanatical. Some call them ignorant deceivers, 
who have never been out of their own home, and yet pre- 
tend to a knowledge of what is going on a thousand miles 
from them. Many call them dangerous members of socie- 
ty, sowing discord and distrust where there should be nought 
but peace and brotherly love. My Readers ! give attention 
to the simple words of one who knows what he utters is 
truth ; who is no stranger to the beauties of slavery or the 
generosity of the slaveholder. Spend a few moments in 
reading his statement in regard to the system of American 
slavery. Do not scoff or doubt. He writes what he does 
know, W'hat he has seen and experienced ; for he has been, 
for twenty-seven years of his life, a slave ; and he here 
solemnly pledges himself to truth. Not once has he ex- 
aggerated, for he could not ; the half of the woes and hor- 
rors of slavery, his feeble pen could not portray. 



12 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

This system is one of robbery and cruel wrong, from be- 
ginning to end. It robs men and women of their liberty, 
lives, property, affections, and virtue, as the following pages 
will show. It is not only a source of misery to those in 
bonds, but those who fasten the chains are made wretched 
by it ; for a state of war constantly exists between the mas- 
ter and servant. The one would enforce obedience to his 
every wish, however wrong and unjust; he would exact 
all the earnings of the slave, to the uttermost farthing. The 
latter feels the restraint and writhes under it ; he sees the 
injustice, and at times attempts to assert his rights; but he 
must submit either to the command or the lash ; obey im- 
plicitly he must. 

The argument so often brought forward, that it would be 
for the interest of the owner to treat his slaves well, and of 
course he would not injure his own interests, may do for 
some, but not for the thinking and considerate. When does 
the angry tyrant reflect upon what, in the end, will be the 
best for him ? To gratify his passion for the moment, to 
wreak out his revenge upon a helpless menial, is, at the time 
of excitement, his interest, and he will serve it well. 

Many argue that the Southern masters are not to blame 
for this wrong ; they inherited it from their fathers, it is 
said, and what can they do? Get rid of it! Would it be 
sensible to suppose that generation after generation were 
justifiable in becoming drunkards, because some ancestor 
had been ? Certainly not ; any person who reasoned thus 
would be considered insane. If my father stole, or mur- 



THE author's account OF HIMSELF. 13 

dered, would that excuse me for committing the same 
crimes ? No ; we all know better than that. 

Again, it is said, the slaveholder has bought them and 
paid his money for them ; perhaps his whole property is in 
them; should he give them up, and beggar himself .? If his 
property consists in human beings, surely he should give it 
up, though he starved in consequence. Of whom has he 
bought them ? Who can own humanity but the great Cre- 
ator .'' As the good Vermont Judge said, — " Show a bill of 
sale from the Almighty, and we acknowledge your claim." 

Some will say, " The slaveholder cannot live without the 
negro ; the climate will not permit the white man to toil 
there." Very well ; admit it. Then let him grant to men 
their rights ; make them free citizens ; pay them justly for 
their honest toil, and see the consequences. All would be 
happier and better. Slavery enriches not the mind, heart, 
or soil where it abides ; it curses and blights every thing it 
comes in contact with. Away, away with, tear up by the 
roots, these noxious weeds, which choke the growth of all 
fair plants, and sow in their stead the beauteous flowers of 
freedom, well watered by the pure waters of religion, and 
what a rich harvest will be yours ! 

Before going into particulars relative to the horrors of sla- 
very, I will give a little of my own history. I was owned, 
with eighty-one others, by a man named Edloe, and among 
them all, only myself could either read or write. When I 
was a child, my mother used to tell me to look to Jesus, and 
that He who protected the widow and fatherless would take 
2 



14 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

care of me also. At that time, my ideas of Jesus were the 
same as those of the other slaves. I thought he would talk 
with me, if I wished it, and give me what I asked for. Being 
very sickly, my greatest wish was to live with Christ in 
heaven, and so I used to go into the woods and lie upon my 
back, and pray that he would come and take me to himself, 
— really expecting to see Him with my bodily eyes. I was 
then between ten and eleven years old, and I continued to 
look for Him until I began to feel very sorry that He would 
not come and talk with me ; and then I felt that 1 was the 
worst little boy that ever lived, and that was the reason 
Jesus would not talk to me, I felt so about it, I wanted to 
die, and thought it would be just in God to kill me, and I 
prayed that he would kill me, for I did not want to live to sin 
against him any more. I felt so for many days and nights. 
At last, I gave myself up to the Lord, to do what he would 
with me, for I was a great sinner. I began to see the 
offended justice of God. O I my readers, the anguish of 
my heart ! I thought the whole world was on me, and I 
must die and be lost. In the midst of my troubles, I felt 
that if God would have mercy on me, I should never sin 
again. When I had come to this, I felt my guilt give way, 
and thought that I was a new being. Now, instead of look- 
ing with my real eyes to see my Savior, I felt him in me, 
and I was happy. The eyes of my mind were open, and 
I saw things as I never did before. With my mind's eye, I 
could see my Redeemer hanging upon the cross for me. 
I wanted all the other slaves to see him thus, and feel as 



THE author's account OF HI3ISELF. 15 

happy as I did. I used to talk to others, and tell them of 
the friend they would have in Jesus, and show them by my 
experience how I was brought to Christ, and felt his love 
within my heart, — and love it was, in God's adapting him- 
self to my capacity. 

After receiving this revelation from the Lord, I became 
impressed that I was called of God to preach to the other 
slaves. I labored under this impression for seven years, but 
then I could not read the Bible, and I thought I could never 
preach unless I learned to read the Bible, but I had no one 
to teach me how to read. A friend showed me the letters, 
and how to spell words of three letters. Then I continued, 
until I got so as to read the Bible, — the great book of 
GxDd, — the source of all knowledge. It was my great 
desire to read easily this book. I thought it was written by 
the Almighty himself. I loved this book, and prayed over 
it, and labored until I could read it. I used to go to the 
church to hear the white preacher. When I heard him 
read his text, I would read mine when I got home. This is 
the way, my readers, I learned to read the Word of God 
when I was a slave. Thus did I labor eleven years under 
the impression that I was called to preach the gospel of 
Jesus Christ, the ever-blessed God. 

Then I learned to write. Here I had no teaching ; but I 
obtained a book with the writing alphabet in it, and copied 
the letters until I could write. I had no slate, so I used to 
write on the ground. All by myself I learned the art of 
writing. Then I used to do my own letter-writing, and 



16 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

write my own passes. When the slave wants to go from 
one plantation to another, he must have a pass from the 
overseer. I could do my own writing, unbeknown to the 
overseer, and carry my own pass. 

My oldest brother's name was Benjamin. He was owned 
by C. H. Edloe, the same person who owned me. Benja- 
min was a very bright young man, and very active about 
his work. He was fond of laughing and frolicking with the 
young women on the plantation. This Lacy, the overseer, 
did not like, and therefore was always watching Benjamin, 
seeking an occasion to have him whipped. At one time, a 
pig had been found dead. The little pig could not tell why 
he was dead, and no one confessed a knowledge of his 
death ; consequently. Lacy thought so great a calamity, so 
important a death, should be revenged. He advised Edloe 
to have every slave whipped. Edloe consented, expecting, 
probably, to prevent, by such cruelty, any other pig from 
dying a natural death. Lacy, the tender-hearted overseer, 
with a heart overflowing with sorrow at the great loss and 
sad bereavement of Edloe's plantation, took his rawhide, 
with a wire attached to the end of it, and gave each man 
twenty lashes on the bare back. O, monster ! the blood 
was seen upon the side of the barn where these slaves were 
whipped for days and months. The wounds of these poor 
creatures prevented them from performing their daily tasks. 
They were, indeed, so cut up, that pieces came out of the 
backs of some of them, so that a child twelve or thirteen 
years old could lay his fist in the cruel place. My brother 



MY BROTHER BENJAMIN. 17 

Benjamin was one of the slaves so savagely beaten. One 
morning, Lacy — perhaps thinking piggy's death not wholly 
avenged — proposed again to whip my brother; but Benjamin 
did not agree with him as to the necessity of such proceed- 
ings, and determined not to submit ; therefore, he turned his 
back upon Lacy, and his face to the woods, making all pos- 
sible speed towards the latter. Lacy fired upon him, but 
only sent a few shot into his flesh, which did not in the least 
frighten Benjamin ; it only served to make him run as fast 
as if he himself had been shot from the overseer's gun. 
For seven months, he lived in the swamps of Virginia, 
while every effort was made to catch him, but without suc- 
cess. He once ventured on board a vessel on James River. 
There he was caught, but soon made his escape again to the 
swamp, where my mother and myself used to carry him 
such food as we could procure to keep him alive. My poor 
broken-hearted mother was always weeping and praying 
about Benjamin, for the overseer had threatened that if he 
oversaw him, he would shoot him, as quick as he would a 
wild deer. All the other overseers had made the same 
threats. 

Edloe, not thinking it best to take Benjamin on to his 
plantation, (provided he could catch him,) sold him *o 
another man, who, after he had succeeded in his sham plan 
of buying my poor brother, sent for him to come out of the 
swamp and go with bim. Benjamin went home to his new 
master, and went faithfully to work for him, — smart young 
man that he was ! 

2* 



18 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

Sometimes, Benjamin would steal over at night to see 
mother, (a distance of ten miles.) He could not come in 
the day-time, because Lacy still declared he would kill him 
the first time he saw him. He did see him one Sabbath, but 
having no gun or pistol with him, my brother again escaped 
him, thanks to the mercies of God. Benjamin continued to 
serve his new masier, until he was suddenly bound and car- 
ried to Petersburg, Virginia, and sold to a negro-trader, who 
put him in a slave-pen, until a large number of slaves were 
bought up by him, to be carried into bondage further South, 
there to lead miserable lives on the cotton and sugar planta- 
tions. Benjamin, my dear brother, left Petersburg, and I 
have not seen him since. Thanks be unto God, prayer can 
ascend, and will be listened to by Him who answereth 
prayer ! To him who crieth unto Him day and night. He 
will listen, and send His angel of peace to quiet his troubled 
heart, with the assurance that the down-trodden shall be 
lifted up, the oppressed shall be delivered from his oppres- 
sor, all captives set free, and all oppressors destroyed, as in 
ancient times. I know that God heard the prayers of my 
praying mother, because she was a Christian, and a widow, 
such as feared God and loved his commandments. She 
used often to sing the following hymn : — 

" Our days began with trouble here, 
Our lives are but a span, 
While cruel death is always near — 
What a feeble thing is man ! 

*' Then sow the seed of grace while young, 
That when you come to die. 
You may sing the triumphant song, 
Death ! Where's thy victory?" 



MY PARENTS. 19 

With the above lines has my mother often soothed, for 
a time, her own sorrows, when she thought of her poor son, 
so far away from her, she knew not where, neither could 
she know of his sufferings ; and again, she would become 
a prey to bitter grief. Her only hope was to meet her son 
in heaven, where slaveholders could not come with their 
purchase-money, where Lacy could not come with his dogs, 
his guns, or his pistols, with powder or balls ; neither would 
she have to steal away to see him, with a little food well 
concealed. Neither will Benjamin be obliged to crouch in 
the forest, hearing the midnight cry of wild beasts around 
him, while he seeks repose upon the cold, bare ground. 
No, she will meet him at the right hand of the Redeemer, 
who will wipe the briny tears from the eyes of the poor 
slave, and feed him with the hidden treasures of His love. 

M Y P A R E JVT S. 

My father did not belong to Edloe, but was owned by a 
Mr. George Harrison, whose plantation adjoined that of my 
master. Harrison made my father a slave-driver, placing 
an overseer over him. He was allowed to visit my mother 
every Wednesday and every Saturday night. This was the 
time usually given to the slaves to see their wives. My 
father would often tell my mother how the white overseer 
had made him cruelly whip his fellows, until the blood ran 
down to the ground. All his days he had to follow this 
dreadful employment of flogging men, women and children, 



20 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

being placed in this helpless condition by the tyranny of his 
master. I used to think very hard of my father, and that he 
was a very cruel man ; but when I knew that he could not 
help himself, I could not but alter my views and feelings in 
regard to his conduct. I was ten years old when he died. 

When my father died, he left my mother with five chil- 
dren. We were all young at the time, and mother had no 
one to help take care of us. Her lot was very hard 
indeed. She had to work all the day for her owner, and at 
night for those who were dearer to her than life ; for what 
was allowed her by Edloe was not sufficient for our wants. 
She used to get a little corn, without his knowledge, and boil 
it for us to satisfy our hunger. As for clothing, Edloe 
would give us a coarse suit once in three years ; mother 
sometimes would beg the cast-off garments from the neigh- 
bors, to cover our nakedness ; and when they had none to 
give, she would sit and cry over us, and pray to the God of 
the widow and fatherless for help and succor. At last, my 
oldest brother was sold from her, and carried where she 
never saw him again. She went mourning for him all 
her days, like a bird robbed of her young, — like Rachel 
bereft of her children, who would not be comforted, because 
they were not. She departed this life on the 27th of Sep- 
tember, 1847, for that world " where the wicked cease from 
troubling, and the weary are at rest." 



21 



THE WILL OF C. H. EDLOE. 

Edloe made his will six years before his decease. He 
said to some of his slaves, just before his death, that he had 
another will, which he had given into the hands of a lawyer 
in Petersburg, Va,, to keep for him, but this will was never 
heard from. The slaves knew about it, but their voice or 
testimony was nothing ; therefore, nothing could be done 
about it. 

I present that will here, together with the decree of the 
Court respecting it, in order that my readers may judge for 
themselves as to the intention of our master, and be con- 
vinced that what I have to say in reference to the manner in 
which the will was executed is perfectly just, and warranted 
by the facts. 

IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMENf — h CARTER 
H. EDLOE, of the County of Prince George, being of 
sound mind and disposing memory, but considering the 
uncertainty of life, do make and ordain this to be my last 
Will and Testament : 

1st. I desire that all debts that I may owe at the time of 
my decease, shall be paid out of the money on hand or the 
profits of my estate. 

2d. I desire that my estate shall be kept together and 
cultivated to the best advantage, until a sufficient sum can 
be raised to pay my debts, should there be any deficiency 
in the amount of money on hand and debts due to me, and to 
raise a sufficient sum to pay for the transportation of my 
Slaves to any Free State or Colony which they may prefer, 
and give to each Slave Fifty Dollars on their departure, either 
in money or other articles which may suit them better ; but 



22 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

should any of my slaves prefer going immediately, they can 
do so, but they are not to be furnished with money. It is 
not my wish to force them away without their consent. In 
the event of any of them preferring to remain in slavery, 
they must take the disposition hereinafter directed. 

3d. After the provisions in the preceding clauses of my 
Will have been complied with, I loan to my niece, Elizabeth 
C. Orgain, my Plantation in Prince George, called Mt. 
Pleasant, during her life ; but in the event of her marrying 
and having children, I then give to her children, at her 
death, the said land, to them and their heirs forever. 

4th. I loan to my niece, Mary Orgain, my Plantation in 
Prince George, called Brandon and Dandridge's, during her 
life ; but should she marry and have children, I then give 
to her children, at her death, the said lands, to them and 
their heirs forever. 

5th. The rest and residue of my estate, of whatever kind 
soever, I desire may be divided into two equal parts, and 
one part to go to each of my nieces, Elizabeth and Mary ; 
and should any of my Slaves prefer remaining in slavery, I 
desire they may be divided into two equal parts, and one part 
go to each of my nieces, during their lives, and then to 
their children, in the same manner as the landed property is 
given, except my Household Furniture, Wines and Liquors, 
all of which I give to Mary Orgain during her life, and then 
to her children. Those negroes under age at my death may 
have until they are twenty-one years of age to decide whether 
they will go or remain; but in the event of but one of my 
nieces having children, I desire that those children have the 
whole of my property at the death of their aunt. 

6th. I give and bequeath to my female Slave, Harriet 
Barber and her children, (all of whom I bought of R. G. 
Orgain, Esq.,) Eight Thousand Dollars, which sum I desire 
my Executors to take from my estate, and either lay it out 
in good stock, or put the money out at interest, always 
taking undoubted security — the stock I should prefer — the 
interest of which shall be paid to said Harriet yearly. 
Should there not be a sum sufficient to pay this legacy, 
either in stock or money, I direct my Executors to sell my 
land in Southampton. Should that not make up the defi- 



edloe's will. 23 

ciency, other land must be sold, or horses and cattle, as my 
Executors may think best. 

7th. It is my wish that the said Harriet and children 
should remain on my estate, or in any situation which they 
may prefer that the law will allow ; and I direct my Execu- 
tors to furnish Harriet and her children with their Free 
Papers, whenever they may desire to have them, and assist 
them to remove to any place they may choose to locate 
themselves. 

I do hereby appoint David D. Brydon, of the Town of 
Petersburg, and John A. Seldon, of Charles City county, my 
Executors, requiring them to give no security for the per- 
formance of their duty. I do hereby revoke all former 
Wills, this being my last Will. In testimony whereof, I 
have hereunto subscribed my name, this 20th day of March, 
One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. 

CARTER H. EDLOE. 

At a Court of Quarterly Sessions, held for Prince George 
county, at the Court House thereof, on Tuesday, the 13th 
day of August, 1844: 

This last Will and Testament of Carter H. Edloe, dec'd, 
was presented into Court, and there being no subscribing 
witnesses thereto, William C. Rawlings, P. C. Osborne, and 
David Tennant, appeared in Court and made oath that they 
are well acquainted with the hand-writing of the Testator, 
and they verily believe the said Will to be wholly written 
by the Testator : And thereupon said Will is ordered to be 
recorded. On the motion of John A. Seldon, an Executor 
therein named, who made oath thereto, and entered into and 
acknowledged a bond in the penalty of One Hundred and 
Twenty Thousand Dollars, (the Testator desiring that no 
security should be given upon his qualification,) conditioned 
as the law directs, certificate is granted the said John A. 
Seldon for obtaining a probate of the said Will in due form. 
Teste, RO. GILLIAM, Clerk. 

VIRGINIA — Prince George County, to loit : 

I, ROBERT GILLIAM," Clerk of the Court of said 
county, in the State of Virginia, do hereby certify the fore- 



24 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LlFE. 

going to be a true copy of the last Will and Testament of 
Carter H. Edloe, deceased. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereto set my hand 
r -1 and affixed the seal of the said Court, this thirty- 

L 'J first day of August, 1847, and in the seventy- 
second year of the Commonwealth. 

RO. GILLIAM, Clerk. 



DECREE OF THE COURT. 

VIRGINIA : 

At a Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery, held 
for the town of Petersburg, at the court house thereof, on 
Monday, the 24th day of May, A. D. 1847 : 

John A. Seldon, Executor of C. H. ") 
Edloe, deceased. Plaintiff, I 

against \j ^, 

Mary Orgain and Elizabeth Orgain, ( ^^ ^nancery. 

infants, by H. B. Gaines, their 
Guardian ad litem, 4*^., Defts., 

This cause came on this day to be further heard on the 
papers formerly read, on the reports of Commissioner Ber- 
nard, and of the special Commissioners appointed to consult 
the slaves of C. H. Edloe, deceased, and was argued by 
counsel : On consideration whereof, the court being of opin- 
ion that the slave Harriet and her children are entitled to no 
part of the profits of the plantation, and that the several 
sums charged in the account of profits as expended for 
them ought not to have been so charged ; and adopting the 
correction of the report in that particular, contained in the 
note of the Commissioner, p. 1, doth order that the report of 
Commissioner Bernard, with that correction, and the report 
of the special Commissioners, be confirmed : And the court 
doth further adjudge, order and decree, that the Plaintiff do, 
on or before the fifteenth day of October, one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-seven, as may seem to him best, 
discharge from servitude all the slaves of his Testator ; that 
he deliver to said slaves, individually or in families, as he may 
think best, duly authenticated copies of this decree, endorsing 



edloe's will. 25 

on each copy the name or names of the person or persons 
to whom it is given ; that the Executor, out of the money 
now in his hands and interest thereon from the thirteenth 
day of March, one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, 
together with the nett proceeds of the growing crop or such 
thereof as may be secured, pay to the slaves, Robert, Old 
Ben and Caty, (who elect to remain in service until the full 
amount of the provision intended for them shall be raised,) 
each the sum of Fifty Dollars, " on their departure ; " that 
he pay to each of the slaves of the Testator who has re- 
mained on the plantation, and shall so remain until the 
slaves shall be liberated as herein directed, a sum sufficient 
to pay for his or her transportation to such free State or 
colony as they may respectively prefer, or provide and 
pay for their transportation to such free State or colony 
in such other manner as may to him seem best : And the 
court doth order that the said Executor do immediately, 
on discharging the said slaves from servitude, cause them to 
be removed to the free State or colony which they may 
respectively select as their future homes ; the court being of 
opinion that it was not the intention of the Testator that they 
should be emancipated and allowed to receive the bounty 
provided for them, unless they were removed by the Execu- 
tor beyond the limits of Virginia ; and in case the fund be 
not sufficient to defray the whole amount of such expenses 
of transportation, the same shall be divided among the 
slaves, rateably, taking into consideration their ages, place 
selected, &c., and that he distribute the residue, if any there 
be, equally among all the said slaves, without regard to age, 
and that he deliver the slaves Sylvia and Jenny, who elect 
to remain slaves, to the defendants, to whom they are be- 
queathed by the Will of the Testator. 

And it is further ordered, that the Plaintiff settle before a 
Commissioner a further account of his transactions as Exec- 
utor, which account the Commissioner is directed to report 
to the court, with any matter specially stated deemed perti- 
nent by himself, or which any of the parties may require to 
be so stated. 

A copy — Teste, R. McMANN, S. C. 

August 6th, 1847. 
3 



26 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

When Edloe died, he gave this will, which was the one 
finally acted upon, into the hands of one of his slaves, not 
feeling willing to trust any one else. 

The Executor of the estate was John A. Seldon, of 
Charles City County. The will stated, as will be seen, that 
if there should be any deficiency of money on hand, suf- 
ficient must be raised to pay his debts, and transport his 
slaves to a place of freedom, and pay each of them fifty 
dollars. Edloe was gone, and could not act for us in per- 
son, so this deed of justice was not carried out. Mr. Seldon 
interpreted the will thus : We were to stay on the plantation 
and work there till we had earned this money ourselves, 
and then we were to be free. Meantime, he took from us 
what the overseer had hitherto given us, and took our 
earnings too. 

For six months, all knowledge of this will was kept from 
us. I was the only one among the slaves who could read 
and write. This I had kept secret, for fear of the conse- 
quences. A friend, who seemed very much interested in 
our affairs, showed me a copy of this will, upon promise of 
secrecy. So I read it, and remembered it all ; then he 
told me of a lawyer who would be a good one for us. I 
communicated this good news to two of the older and more 
experienced men of our party, and repeated to them the 
substance of the will. They v^rent to see the lawyer, and 
he agreed to take the case in hand. This friend knew how 
we were treated, and told us it was very unjust and wrong. 



edloe's will. 27 

This lawyer's name was James L. Scarborough, of Prince 
George County, Va. 

He first went to the bank of Petersburg, where Edloe's 
money was deposited, and found out that there were thirty- 
two thousand dollars on hand ; so he was going at once to 
get our free papers for us ; but soon he came to us again, 
and said the executor of the estate would give him five hun- 
dred dollars to stop the suit — but he would not stop it. But 
this did not last long. We soon found that Seldon got all 
our money, and could give him more than we could ; so he 
began to put us off* from one court to another, telling us 
that the court did not have time to attend to us, but the next 
would certainly settle the matter. We gave him all our 
little earnings, which amounted to twenty-two dollars, but 
he got no papers. So he kept us for two years and six 
months. When we found out the deception he had prac- 
tised upon us, we felt very wretched indeed — sure that we 
had no friend left, and should never get our freedom, but 
were cruelly robbed of what was our own, not only by right, 
but as an especial gift. 

Seldon used to come and see us when the crops were to 
be sold, get the money for us, (but we never saw it,) then 
go away again, without the least advantage to us. At last, 
we took courage, and got another man to exert himself for 
us. He was not a lawyer^ but a magistrate. His name 
was William B. Harrison, the owner of Middle Brandon. 
Though a slaveholder himself, he got our free papers, 
and procured us a passage to Boston, after we had remained 



28 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

three years and thirty-five days in unlawful bondage, accord- 
ing to the laws of Virginia, to say nothing of a higher law. 

Instead of the fifty dollars we were each to receive on 
our landing, we had fourteen dollars and ninety-six cents 
apiece. All our money was taken from us, because we 
were black people ; but glad enough were we of our 
freedom. 

We were told if we came to Boston, we should be killed, 
or put in prison, where we should have to work under 
ground, or be obliged to drag carts all round the streets ; 
but we were determined to try it, live or die. 

We came in 1847, and have not been eaten up yet. And 
now we claim the fifty dollars, and interest, since 1844. 
It was given to us by the man we served while he 
was living, and no law or justice can keep it from us, ex- 
cept by downright fraud. Here are old people of the party, 
unable to do much for themselves, to whom this would be a 
great blessing. Surely, the day is not far distant when 
those base men will be shown up to the world for what 
they are worth. The wrong they committed will not rest 
upon those ignorant slaves, but will rebound back, covering 
their white faces, but black hearts, with infamy. 



SLAVES ON THE PLANTATION. 29 

SLAVES ON THE PLANTATION. 

THE HOURS FOR WORK. 

The slave goes to his work when he sees the daybreak In 
the morning, and works until dark at night. The slaves 
have their food carried to them in the field ; they have one 
half hour to eat it in, in the winter, and one hour in the 
summer. Their time for eating is about eight in the morn- 
ing, and one in the afternoon. Sometimes, they have not so 
much time given to them. The overseer stands by them 
until they have eaten, and then he orders them to work. 

The slaves return to their huts at night, make their little 
fires, and lie down until they are awakened for another day 
of toil. No beds are given them to sleep on ; if they have 
any, they find themselves. The women and the men all 
have to work on the farms together ; they must fare alike 
in slavery. Husbands and wives must see all that happens 
to each other, and witness the sufferings of each. They must 
see their children polluted, without the power to prevent it, 

HOW THE SLAVES COJVTRIVE TO GET FOOD. 

There are some animals in Virginia called raccoons, pos- 
sums, old hares, and squirrels. The best of these is the pos- 
sum, which lives in old trees and in the earth. The slave 
sets his tiaps in the swamps, where the possum usually lives. 
The traps are made by cutting down trees, and cutting them in 
3* 



30 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

short pieces about five feet long ; then they raise the log on 
three pieces of stick, like the figure four. These traps are 
made on the Sabbath. One slave will sometimes have fif- 
teen or twenty of them, and will go at night, with his torch 
of pitch-pine, and see if his traps have caught anything for 
him to eat. Sometimes he finds a possum and a raccoon ; 
and sometimes a squirrel and old hare. This old hare is 
something like a rabbit. All of these little animals are good 
food for the poor slave, and make him feel very glad that he 
has them to eat. Some of the slaves hunt these animals 
with dogs, trained for the purpose. They run them up the 
trees in the forest, where, as they are a harmless animal, 
they can be taken very easily. They do not fight very hard 
when caught, but are very easily overcome ; but they are a 
very deceitful little animal. They will lie on the ground, 
and make you think they are dead ; but if you leave them, 
they will creep off so soon, that you cannot coaceive how 
the little animal got away so cute. The only way they can 
be kept safely is to be put in a bag, or in a basket with a 
cover. The slave knows best when to hunt these creatures. 
The best time is just at the rise of the tide in the rivers. 
There is another method that the slave takes to get his food. 
He makes what is called a fish-trap. This is made by cut- 
ting white oak wood into very small strips, which are tied 
together with a great deal of ingenuity. This trap is put in 
very deep water, and attended by the slaves \t night, and on 
the Sabbath, (this being all the time they have to attend to 
their traps ;) and very glad are they of this opportunity of 



SLAVES ON THE PLANTAT-ION. 81 

getting some nice fish. Oftentimes the overseer will take 
what he wants for his own use, and the slaves must 
submit. 

There are some little fruits in Virginia, that are called 
" simmons " ; they grow very plentifully, and are sweet and 
good. The slaves get them in the fall of the year, then 
they get a barrel and put the " simmons " into it, and put 
water there too, and something else that grows on trees, that 
they call " locusses," which are about ten inches long, and 
two across. They put the " locusses " and " simmons " into 
the water together, and let them stand for two or three days. 
Then the water is drained off, and the leaves are used as 
you would use coffee. The slaves put this liquid in gourds, 
and carry it to the field with them, and drink out of their 
gourds while they eat their bread. 

HOUSE SLAVES. 

When the slave-master owns a great many slaves, ten or 
a dozen are always employed to wait on himself and family. 
They are not treated so cruelly as the field slaves ; they 
are better fed and wear better clothing, because the master 
and his faniily always expect to have strangers visit them, 
and they want their servants to look well. These slaves 
eat from their master's table, wear broadcloth and calico ; 
they wear rufHed-bosomed shirts, too, — such as Doctor 
Nehemiah Adams declares he saw while on his visit to the 
South, where he became so much in love with the " peculiar 



32 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

institution." These slaves, although dressed and fed better 
than others, have to suffer alike with those whose outward 
condition is worse. They are much to be compared to gal- 
vanized watches, which shine and resemble gold, but are far 
from being the true metal ; so with these slaves who wait 
upon their masters at table — their broadcloth and calico 
look fine, but you may examine their persons, and find many 
a lash upon their flesh. They are sure of their whippings, 
and are sold the same as others. 

Sometimes their masters change, and put them on the 
farm, that the overseers may whip them. Among those 
who wait upon the master, there is always one to watch 
the others, and report them to him. This slave is treated 
as well as his master, because it is for the master's interest 
that he does this. This slave he always carries with him 
when he visits the North ; particularly such slaves as can- 
not be made to leave their master, because they are their 
master's watch-dog at home. So master can trust them. 
Before leaving, master always talks very kindly to them, 
and promises something very great for a present, if they are 
true to him until his return. 

These slaves know what they must say when asked as 
t'o their treatment at home, and of the treatment of their fel- 
lows. They leave their wives, their mothers, brothers 
and sisters, and children, toiling and being driven and 
whipped by the overseer, and tortured and insulted on every 
occasion. 



SLAVES ON THE PLANTATION. 33 

JDECEPTIOJV OF THE SLAVEHOLDER. 

All the slaves, as well as their owners, are addicted to 
drinking ; so when the slaveholder wants to make a show of 
his niggers, (as he calls them,) he gives them rum to drink. 

When the master knows a Northern man is to visit him, 
he gives orders to the overseer, and the overseer orders 
every slave to dress himself, and appear on the field. If 
the slaves have any best, they must put it on. Perhaps a 
man. has worked hard, extra times all the year, and got 
his wife a fourpenny gown, — she must put it on, and go to 
the field to work. About the time the stranger is expected, 
a jug of rum is sent to the field, and every slave has just 
enough given him to make him act as if he was crazy. 

When such a stranger as Rev. Dr. Adams appears with 
the master, he does not see the negroes, but the rum tha-t 
is in them ; and when he hears their hurrah, and sees their 
Jim-Crow actions, he takes it for granted that they are as 
happy as need be, and their condition could not be bettered. 

The owner gives the visitor liberty to ask his " niggers " 
questions. He will ask them if they love their master, or 
wish to leave him. Poor slave will say, he would not leave 
his master for the world; but O, my reader! just let the 
poor slave get off*, and he would be in Canada very soon, 
where the slaveholder dare not venture. 

The slaves do not speak for themselves. The slave- 
holding master and his rum are working in their heads, 
speaking for slavery ; and this is the way the slaveholder 
deceives his friend from the North. 



34 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

FL O G G I.YG, 

For whipping the slaves in Virginia, there are no rules. 
The slave receives from the slaveholder from fifty to five 
hundred lashes. The slave-owner would think fifty stripes 
an insult to the slave. If the slave is let off with fifty 
lashes, he must show a very good temper. Men, women, 
and children must be whipped alike on their bare backs, it 
being considered an honor to whip them over their clothes. 
The slaves are placed in a certain position when they are 
flogged, with suflicient management to hold them very still, 
so they cannot work their hands or feet, while they are 
" wooding them up," as they call it in Virginia. 

Some of the slaves have to lie down on their stomachs, flat 
on the ground, and be stretched out so as to keep their skin 
tight for the lash, and thus lie until they receive as much as 
they choose to put on ; if they move, they must receive so 
many lashes extra. When the slaveholder expects to give 
his slave five hundred lashes, he gives him about half at a 
time ; then washes him down with salt and water, and then 
gives him the remainder of what he is to have. At such 
times, the slave-owner has his different liquors to drink, 
while he is engaged in draining the blood of the slave. 
So he continues to drink his rum and whip his victim. 
When he does not flog his victims on the ground, they are 
tied by their hands, and swung up to a great tree, just so the 
end of their toes may touch the ground. In this way, they 
receive what number of lashes they are destined to. The 



SLAVES ON THE PLANTATION. 35 

master has straw brought, that the blood may not touch 
his shoes. Ah, reader ! this is true, every word of it. The 
poor slave is whipped till the blood runs down to the earth, 
and then he must work all day, cold or hot, from week's 
end to week's end. There are hundreds of slaves who 
change their skins nearly as often as they have a new suit 
of clothes. 



FARMS ADJOINING EDLOE'S PLANTATION. 

I WILL give my readers a little knowledge concerning the 
neighbors of my owner, that they may be able to judge of 
Slavery by something more than the character of one slave- 
holder, or his management among his slaves. 

Edloe's farm was what was called Upper Brandon, on 
James River. It consisted of about fifly-six square miles, 
and was worked by eighty-one slaves. 

William B. Harrison owned Middle Brandon. His farm 
was about one hundred square miles. He owned over two 
hundred slaves. Of their treatment I shall speak, and also 
of the numerous overseers he had employed. 

George B. Harrison, the owner of my father, owned 
Lower Brandon. His farm was the same in size as his bro- 
ther's, and he owned the same number of slaves. 

Mr. VVm. Harrison fed his slaves what is called " regular " 



36 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

in Virginia ; he was one of the best feeders on James River. 
He clothed them well, too ; but he was a great flogger, and 
probably the greatest in the region. In his dealings with 
those who were not slaves, he was upright, never deceiving, 
but always doing as he agreed. If any other case than 
Slavery came before him, he would make a liberal decision 
in favor of right ; but he would have his slaves whipped 
whenever the overseer wished it. Sometimes he would go 
to church and preach to his slaves. I have heard him my- 
self, but, my readers, it did seem like mocking God for such 
as he to stand up and preach. 

The first overseer of Mr. Harrison's that I knew was Benj. 
Bishop. Under his reign, many of the slaves went into the 
presence of their God, to show the bloody stripes of the 
lash received from Ben. Bishop. Harrison did not care for 
his slaves as the man who owned me did, but left them to 
the mercy of the overseers. Go to the South, reader ! there 
you will see many mulattoes, the descendants of Ben. Bish- 
op. He continued with Harrison several years, when, be- 
ing sent down to Richmond to sell some negroes, he made 
one hundred dollars more than he was to pay his employer ; 
therefore, he concluded to take the business of human traffic 
into his own hands, and become a " nigger trader." He 
was not very successful in his undertaking, being too fond 
of what is called " toddy " in the Southern States. He be- 
came a great drunkard and a great gambler, (vices inti- 
mately connected with the " peculiar institution,") and was 
obliged to give up his business. 



SLAVES ON THE PLANTATION. 37 

He was afterwards employed by Edloe, my master ; 
but he did not live with him long before he was discharged, 
for his unmerciful treatment of the blacks. 

Death called to him soon, and he was ushered into the 
awful presence of the righteous Judge, (who listens to the 
cries of the poor widows, and the orphans,) with his guilty 
hands dripping with the blood of his fellow-creatures, who 
had sunk groaning to the earth beneath his barbed heel of 
cruel oppression. 

The next man who took charge of this farm was John Q. 
Adams. This man (notwithstanding his noble name) was a 
disgrace to civilization ; for when he had beaten his victims 
till their bodies could bear no more, he would lash the bot- 
toms of their feet. My readers, this may seem incredible, 
but it is truth. Harrison's slaves trembled at the very men- 
tion of his name, and the sight of him would bring wo 
and terror to their very souls ; the poor creatures would 
wish that the earth would open and swallow them, that 
they might never look upon the face of Adams again, or 
hear the sound of his voice. His voice had all the fearful 
sound of the roaring lion, and the hideous howl of the prowl- 
ing wolf. I verily believe his organs of speech were made 
of the hardest granite, fastened together with monstrous iron 
bolts. As his victims were dripping with their own blood, 
he would bellow forth his curses, and dare them to call on 
God for help. Groanings and sorrow, pains and misery 
untold, unspeakable, were the portion of the negroes upon 
Harrison's plantation. 
4 



38 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE, 

Adams practised everything that was mean, cruel, devil- 
ish, everything that could be thought of by demons. This con- 
duct continued eleven years before I left Virginia, in 1847. 
I could give a great many more truths concerning this J. Q. 
Adams, that may seem too outrageous for a human being to 
conceive. I would not do injustice to any one, not even a 
slave-driver, for I know I must stand at the bar of the Eter- 
nal, and render an account of every word spoken in the 
flesh. I know that, in order to do good, my testimony must 
he the truth. 

The next overseer was Harden Harrison. He owned three 
slaves himself; but was very religious, and belonged to the 
Presbyterian Church. He did not beat so much as Adams, 
but was very strict with the slaves. He used to say his 
prayers every night, and grace before his meals. Some- 
times his grace failed him, and then the poor slave must 
expect something more than soft words or gentle treatment. 
He never yet had grace sufficient to excuse any little fault 
in a negro. He used to quote Moses's law to whip by. His 
face was very narrow and hypocritical. 

He had just enough of professed religion to deceive. He 
was one of those calculated to deceive Northern visitors, 
who saw him go on with his solemn ceremonies of religion, 
to make them believe that good and religious men guided 
the poor ignorant blacks, and kept them from sinking entirely 
into the blackness of heathenism. Then Mr. H. would 
take just enough of his toddy to make him feel as good as 
any body else. He lived with Mr. W. B. Harrison as long 
as he wished, then left and went home to his own farm. 



SLAVES ON THE PLANTATION. 39 

The next overseer was named Edloe. He used to call 
himself the " snapping-turtle," and would raw-hide the slaves 
so they would be obliged to wind cotton round their persons, 
to protect their wounds from their clothing. Of other things 
of which he was guilty, delicacy forbids me to speak ; 
judge for yourselves. He continued there three years, and 
was at it when I left Virginia. 

One more of these men I have not mentioned, whose 
name was Ladd. It should have been " Hornet." I cannot 
speak of the actions of this man, without a shrinking from 
the fact that I ever knew such a being. He made men and 
women to n;rowl and bark like doa;s. At all hours of the 
night, you might find Ladd in the woods, with his dogs, 
prowling about after some skulking fugitive, and all day 
driving and whipping the persecuted victims, till they were 
almost driven to self-murder, which nothing but the belief 
that those who take their own lives cannot be happy in 
another world kept them from. The slaves used to run 
away to Edloe, and get him to go and beg mercy for them, 
and he would do so. For two years, Ladd managed in this 
way ; then the great Judge called him from earth, to give 
an account of his bloody deeds. 

Some of my readers may ask why we were always afflict- 
ed with such horrid men, as overseers, in our region, and if 
there were no good ones. Ah, dear reader, do you think a 
good man would take such a position ? And what man is there 
who would not become worse daily by being placed in such a 
situation, with unlimited power over hundreds of abject beings, 



40 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

whom he looks upon as only a little above the brute ? Ah, 
ye who look coolly on in the distance, and doubt the exist- 
ence of all this wretchedness, go nearer, become yourself 
the property of another, and then your doubts will be re- 
moved ! 

The first overseer I knew of on George Harrison's planta- 
tion was Charles Charbour. " Devilish " is the only word 
which will describe his character. My father was a colored 
driver under him, and he was made to beat his fellow slaves 
most unmercifully, and there was no escape, unless he 
would have submitted to a worse fate, if possible, for him- 
self. Charbour has been known to cut the skin with a knife 
from the poor black man's feet, that he might not run away, 
or that the saying, " I will cut every inch of your black hide 
off," might be literally fulfilled. Truly, he was one towards 
whom the blood of the slave will cry, whenever he ap- 
proaches those fields of labor, or wanders by the swamps, 
or by the riverside. There was no peace for man, woman 
or child wherever he followed. 

Harrison, who owned the slaves, was a young man at this 
time, and cared for nothing, so Charbour had everything his 
own way. God in his mercy visited this farm with a great 
calamity. The cholera came among the slaves, and carried 
many to their rest. The very atmosphere, at this time, 
seemed to burn with evil and wrong for the poor negroes, 
so that death was their best friend. Many of my father's 
relations were owned here, and well we knew of the suffer- 
ings which their owner allowed, and sought no means to 
alleviate. 



SLAVES ON THE PLANTATION. 41 

Harrison's conduct at last made him an object of scorn 
and indignation to most of the people who knew him. One 
day, he was on business at the court house, and while he 
was seated among many gentlemen, who were strangers to 
him, they commenced a conversation about " young Harri- 
son," and his abominable course in regard to his people. 
Very freely they discussed his character, and he had the 
benefit of their opinion from their own mouths. He went 
home rather humbled, and commenced the work of reform- 
ation on his plantation. Charbour was forbidden to whip so 
much, and the slaves were really treated better. That sea- 
son was to the slaves what the conversion of Paul was to 
the church he had persecuted, — there was rest for a little 
season. Shortly after this sudden change in Geo. Harrison, 
he died, when the clouds of darkness again fell about those 
poor negroes. His brother became the guardian of the 
estate, and everything was left in the hands of overseers, 
who used their power as bad men might be expected to. 

Another neighbor of ours, or rather, of my master's, was 
his brother. His plantation was called Willow Hill, and was 
very large. This Mr. Edloe owned two farms, (one in 
Cumberland Co.,) and a great many slaves. Many of these 
slaves were related to me, and those of my fellows who 
came North with me. 

William Allen owned a large farm across from Lower 

Brandon, in Surrey Co., called Claremont. He also owned 

twelve other farms, and nine hundred and ninety-nine slaves. 

He was uncle to Edloe, my owner, and was considered the 

4* 



42 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

richest man in Virginia, except old Bob Boiling, of Peters- 
burg. He was not a good man. He was possessed of none 
of the virtues, but some of the vices of King Solomon. He 
was very fond of the young females, yet he was married to 
no one. He was very cruel to his people, and used what is 
called the bell and horns on his slaves, to keep them from 
running away. He used to chain them together with a long 
chain, with heavy fastenings at the end of the chain. The 
bell and horns were a harness made so as to fasten on the 
slave's neck, with a band of iron that would go round the 
neck, to which was attached another band that passed over 
the top of the head, about three feet perpendicular, then 
turned with a hook, so as to hook over the limbs of trees, if 
the slave should attempt running in the swamps, out of sight 
of the overseer. He always kept a good slock of them on 
hand, to use as you would use bells for cows, that you might 
find them, easily, if they strayed. 

Some of his slaves were put to death by his overseers, 
but he did not trouble himself about it — he had plenty 
more. Ah, my readers ! more blood has been drawn from 
Allen's slaves than he would be willing to carry upon his 
shoulders for one moment. 

He was very close with his slaves with regard to food 
and clothes, and those who lived along the rivers used to 
catch fish at stolen moments, so as to keep themselves 
along, from time to time, until Allen died. When that oc- 
curred, Edloe immediately went over, and freed all the poor 
creatures from their harnesses, leg-irons, and handcuffs. 



CABIN POINT. 43 

Allen had freed his colored sons, and about eight others. 
The rest of his slaves he gave to one of his nephews, 
named William Allen. He gave one of his farms to be di- 
vided among all his relations. Edloe was one, and he drew 
eighteen of those slaves, who were all freed with myself. 
The rest went to drudge with their new masters, under a 
bondage worse than Egyptian. 

CABIJV POIJVT. 

There was but one village near Brandon, where the large 
farms were cultivated, and that was in Surrey County, about 
seven miles from Lower Brandon. This village was called 
" Cabin Point," and there the United States mail stopped. 
Five or six stores were kept there, and it was a great place 
for loafers ; for at these stores, you could buy almost every 
thing, especially rum and other liquors. Saturdays and 
Sundays, all the lower class of whites and free colored peo- 
ple used to assemble there, to drink and gamble. No slaves 
were allowed there, unless sent by their masters, with a 
pass. 

" Cabin Point " was famous for its fighting, drunkenness, 
and every kind of degradation. The whites beat the free 
colored people there, and they dare not raise their hands, 
lest they should be mobbed. Females were not safe there 
an instant ; nothing could protect them from the violence of 
those drunken desperadoes. If any good man from the 
North should witness one of these scenes, he would think it 
indicative of any thing but civilization. 



44 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

This place is the rendezvous for all the rowdies of Prince 
George and Surrey counties. There the overseers would 
meet for their drunken revels, and return to the farms, to 
make the backs of the outraged negroes pay the bills for 
their debauchery. 

There were many wealthy men there, who owned many 
human beings. The most prominent among them were Mr. 
Peters, A. Sledge, Dr. Strong, and Dr. Graves. 

Dr. Graves was so cruel and wicked, he would not take 
time even to whip his slaves, but would use his knife on 
them. He would chain them on their backs, and give them 
nothing to eat for two or three days at a time. He was 
called the best physician in the place, but he was as good a 
devil as I should wish to see. He was employed by all the 
large farmers to attend their slaves in sickness, and was 
very fond of the female slaves, to whom he was a good doc- 
tor. I will not spend time to write more of him ; he was 
so wicked, my feelings become excited, and language fails 
me in speaking of him. 

Dr. Strong was a mild man, — as fine a man as I ever 
knew among slaveholders. He was not cruel ; he looked 
upon his negroes as human beings, possessed of feelings, 
and as capable of enjoyment and suffering as himself, and 
he treated them kindly. He appeared to be a Christian ; 
but still, he held his fellow-men in bondage ; he did not 
allow them to act for themselves and work for themselves. 
Even kind-hearted Dr. Strong could not live out the precepts 
of Jesus and remain a slaveholder. He was succeeded by 



OVERSEERS. 45 

Dr. Gray, who, though a very strict man among his people, 
was not cruel. 

Mr. Peters was not as bad as many other slaveholders, 
though he used to whip his slaves to keep them tame, for 
fear they would run wild. Mr. Peters was a mild, whipping 
slaveholder, died a slaveholder, and will receive a slavehold- 
er ""s reward. 

Amos Sledge was very cruel and inhuman in the treat- 
ment of his people. He worked them very hard, fed them 
very poorly, clothed them but scantily, whipped them un- 
mercifully, and allowed them no privileges. They were a 
downcast, heart-broken set of people. 

O V E R SEERS. 

The first overseer I served under was Henry Halling- 
work, a cruel and a bad man. He often whipped my mother 
and the children, and worked the slaves almost day and 
night, in all weather. The men had no comfort with their 
wives, for any of the latter who pleased him, he would take 
from their husbands, and use himself. If any refused his 
lewd embraces, he treated them with the utmost barbarity. 
At night, he watched the slaves' huts, to find out if they 
said anything against him, or had any food except what he 
had allowed them ; and if he discovered anything he dis- 
liked, they were severely whipped. He continued this con- 
duct for about three years, when Mr. Edloe discovered it, 
and discharged him. 



46 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

The next overseer who lived on the plantation did not 
treat the people so badly as did Hallingwork, but he drove 
them very hard, and watched them very closely, to see that 
they took nothing but their allowance. He only lived there 
two years, when he was discharged for misconduct. 

The next overseer, a man named Harris, only remained 
about six months ; his cruelty was so great, it came to Mr. 
Edloe's ear, and he was discharged. 

The successor of Harris was L. Hobbs. He was very 
cruel to the people, especially to all women who would not 
submit to him. He used to bind women hand and foot, and 
whip them until the blood ran down to the earth, and then 
wash them down in salt and water, and keep them tied all 
day, when Edloe was not at home. He used to take my 
cousin and tie her up and whip her so she could not lie 
down to rest at night until her back got well. All this was 
done on Edloe's plantation, the good slaveholder who owned 
me ; and the other slaveholders used to say to him that he 
" spoiled his niggers ; " — but this was the way he spoiled 
them. Hobbs continued this ill-treatment for the space of 
three years, then he was turned off. Thus ends the history 
of Hobbs on Edloe's plantation, with the exception of leav- 
ing what are termed " mulattoes " in Virginia. 

The fifth overseer was B. F. Bishop. He came to the 
plantation as a tyrant, and proved himself such to men, wo- 
men and children. He reigned tyrannically for one year, and 
did many things which decency will not permit me to speak 
of. He, and all of the overseers, were in the habit of steal- 



OVEKSEEBS. 47 

ing from their employer, and the colored people knew it, but 
their informing Edloe would have done no good, for he 
could not believe a slave. According to the laws of Vir- 
ginia, the testimony of a slave against an overseer could not 
be taken. This Benj. Bishop reigned " monarch of all he 
surveyed" (doing as he chose in every thing — cruel as 
cruel could be) one year, when he was discharged. 

The sixth overseer was R. Lacy, a native of Charles 
City, Va. He reigned seven years. I cannot describe to 
my readers the malice and madness with which this being 
treated Edloe's slaves. You cannot find his parallel in his- 
tory, except it be in Nero or Caligula. Indeed, he was a very 
wicked man, and a great hypocrite. I cannot point to one 
good deed he ever performed. He would enter the houses, 
and bind men and women, and inflict torture upon them, 
whether innocent or guilty. The blood of innocent slaves 
is yet crying to the God of justice to avenge their sufferings, 
and pour out deserved judgment upon the head of Lacy. 

The seventh overseer was P. Vaughn. He was cruel, 
but not so much so as some of the others had been. He 
was too fond of rum and the females, so Edloe gave him 
his walking ticket. 

The eighth overseer was J. G. Harrison. He was with Mr. 
Edloe at the time of his decease. Harrison was, like others 
in his station, hard and unmerciful. He made his dogs 
tear and bite my mother very badly. She died soon after, 
and was freed from her tormentors, at rest from her labors, 
and rejoicing in heaven. 



48 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

This same Harrison shot one of Edloe's men, because he 
would not submit to the lash ; but no one said anything to 
Harrison about his conduct. (He did not kill the man. 
Although shot, he is now living in Charlestown, Mass. His 
name is Wyatt Lee. He is well known in Boston.) 

FOOD AJVD CLOTHIJVG. 

I shall now show what the slaves have to eat and wear. 
They have one pair of shoes for the year ; if these are 
worn out in two months, they get no more that year, but 
must go barefooted the rest of the year, through cold and 
heat. The shoes are very poor ones, made by one of the 
slaves, and do not last more than two or three months. One 
pair of stockings is allowed them for the year ; when these 
are gone, they have no more, although it is cold in Virginia 
for five months. They have one suit of clothes for the 
year. This is very poor indeed, and made by the slaves 
themselves on the plantation. It will not last more than 
three months, and then the poor slave gets no more from 
the slaveholder, if he go naked. This suit consists of one 
shirt, one pair of pants, one pair of socks, one pair of 
shoes, and no vest at all. The slave has a hat given him 
once in two years ; when this is worn out, he gets no more 
from the slaveholder, but must go bareheaded till he can get 
one somewhere else. Perhaps the slave will get him a skin 
of some kind, and make him a hat. 

The food of the slaves is this : Every Saturday night, they 



FUNERAL CUSTOMS. 49 

receive two pounds of bacon, and one peck and a half of 
corn meal, to last the men through the week. The women 
have one half pound of meat, and one peck of meal, and 
the children one half peck each. When this is gone, they 
can have no more till the end of the week. This is very 
little food for the slaves. They have to beg when they 
can ; when they cannot, they must suffer. They are not 
allowed to go off!' the plantation ; if they do, and are caught, 
they are whipped very severely, and what they have begged 
is taken from them. 



CUSTOMS OF THE SLAVES, WHEJV OJVE OF 
THEIR JVUMBER DIES. 

They go to the overseer, and obtain leave to sit up all 
night with their dead, and sing and pray. This is a very 
solemn season. First, one sings and another prays, and this 
they continue every night until the dead body is buried. 
One of the slaves makes the coffin, — and a very bad one it 
generally is. Some wheat straw is put in the coffin, and if 
they can get it, they wrap the body in a piece of white 
cloth ; if they cannot get it, they put the body in the coffin 
without anything around it. Then they nail up the coffin, 
and put it in a cart, which is drawn by oxen or mules, and 
carried to the grave. As they have no tombs, they put all 
the slaves in the earth. If the slave who died was a Chris- 
tian, the rest of the Christians among them feel very glad, 
and thank God that brother Charles, or brother Ned, or sis- 
5 



50 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

ter Betsey, is at last free, and gone home to heaven, — 
where bondage is never known. Some, who are left be- 
hind, cry and grieve that they, too, cannot die, and throw 
off their yoke of slavery, and join the company of the 
brother or sister who has just gone. 

When the overseer is in good humor, he will let all the 
people go to look the last time upon their relative ; if he is 
ill-tempered, he will not let the slaves go at all ; so it all 
depends upon the state of mind the overseer is in, whether 
the child is permitted to look upon the remains of its parent, 
the husband upon his wife, the mother upon her child, or 
any other dear relative. Ah, my readers ! think of this, 
and see the cruelty of the " peculiar institution." Slaves 
have tender human feelings, — very warm and tender they 
are ; but it matters not how sorrowful and heavy a heart the 
poor negro may have, he cannot see his lifeless friends 
unless the slaveholder wills it. 

When several of the slaves die together, the others go to 
their owner, and ask him to let them have a funeral. Most 
of the owners will grant their slaves this privilege. When 
the owner and overseer give their consent, the slaveholder 
sends a note to a white preacher ; then they set the day, 
and the slaves make ready for the funeral services over 
their friends. 

The slaves go to the woods, and make seats to sit upon, 
(this is done Saturday night). When the seats are prepared, 
they are left till the slaves take their seats upon them, and 
sit until about ten o'clock, when the slaveholding minister 
comes, and preaches about one hour and a half. Then he 



FUNERAL CUSTOMS. 51 

gives the negroes liberty to sing and pray, and he stands by 
them. This is to keep the slaves from their master, because 
they are not allowed to meet together, except a white man 
be present. At the funeral, all the slaves from the adjoin- 
ing plantations obtain passes from their overseers, and come ; 
so this is really a great day for the poor blacks to see each 
other. If their hearts are sad, they are happy to see their 
friends, and they all go to some place, and their friends 
receive such entertainment as it is in their power to give. 
They stay together till night draws on, and then each leaves 
for his home. As soon as possible after the funeral, the 
slaves must go to their work. They have no person to speak 
a word of comfort to them, to cheer their heavy hearts ; 
but they must go on working and mourning all the day and 
night. If they had some one to sympathize with them, their 
burden would be lightened ; but no one cares for the tears of 
the widow, the sighs of the disconsolate husband, the sob- 
bing cries of the mother, whose little son or daughter has 
been taken from her. No one pities the widow's son, that 
his mother (who labored all her life for the slaveholder, and 
for her son, when she could get an opportunity) is gone to 
the grave, leaving her only one behind, to toil on yet longer 
beneath the lash of tyrant overseers, and at the mercy of 
unfeeling slaveholders. Ah ! my readers ! even in the 
grave there is more comfort to the sad ones afflicted, than in 
the prison-house of hopeless slavery. Once, oh Northern 
reader ! visit the auction-block, and all that is human within 
your soul will be aroused, and you will feel and know wliat 
American slavery is. 



50 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 



SLAVES ON THE AUCTION-BLOCK. 

The auctioneer is crying the slave to the highest bidder. 
" Gentlemen, here is a very fine boy for sale. He is worth 
twelve hundred dollars. His name is Emanuel. He be- 
longs to Dea. William Harrison, who wants to sell him 
because his overseer don't like him. How much, gentle- 
men, — how much for this boy? He's a fine, hearty 
nigger. Bid up, bid up, gentlemen ; he must be sold." 
Some come up to look at him, pull open his mouth to exam- 
ine his teeth, and see if they are good. Poor fellow ! he is 
handled and examined like any piece of merchandize ; but 
he must bear it. Neither tongue nor hand, nor any other 
member, is his own, — why should he attempt to use 
another's property? 

Again the bidding goes on : "I will give one thousand 
dollars for that boy." The auctioneer says, " Sir, he is 
worth twelve hundred at the lowest. Bid up, gentlemen, 
bid up; going, going — are you all done: — once, twice, 
three times — all done : — gone ! " 

See the slaveholder, who just bought the image of God, 
come to his victim, and take possession of him. Poor 
Emanuel must go away from his wife, never to see her 
again. All the ties of love are severed ; the declaration of 
the Almighty, which said, " What God hath joined together, 
let not man put asunder," is unheeded, and he must leave 
all to follow his Christian master, — a member of the Epis- 



SLAVES ON THE AUCTION-BLOCK. 53 

copal Church, — a partaker, from \\me to tune, of the Lord's 
sacrament 1 Such men mock religion and insult God. O 
that God would rend the heavens and appear unto these 
lieartless men ! 

Next come Jenny and her five children. Her husband 
was sold and gone. The oldest of her children is a girl 
seventeen years old, — her name, Lucy. 

Auctioneer — " Here, gentlemen, is a fine girl for sale : 
how much for her? Gentlemen, she will be a fortune for 
any one who buys her that wants to raise niggers. Bid up, 
gentlemen, bid up ! Fine girl ; very hearty; good health; 
only seventeen years old ; she's worth fifteen hundred dol- 
lars to any one who wants to raise niggers. Here 's her 
mother ; she 's had nine children ; the rest of them are sold. 
How much, gentlemen, — how much? Bid up! bid up ! '* 

Poor Lucy is sold away from all the loved ones, and goes 
to receive the worst of insults from her cruel taskmaster. 
Her poor mother stands by heart-broken, with tears stream* 
ing down her face. O ! is there a heart, not all brutish, 
that can witness such a scene without falling to the earth 
with shame, that the rights of his fellow-creatures are so 
basely trampled upon ? The seller or buyer of a human 
being, for purposes of slavery, is not human, and has no 
right to the name. 

The next " article *' sold is Harry, a boy of fifteen. 

Auctioneer — " Gentlemen, how much for this boy ? He 
is an honest boy, can be trusted with any thing you wish ; 
how much for him ? " 
5* 



54 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

Harry is sold from his mother, who is standing watching 
for her turn. She began to scream out, " O, my child ! my 
child ! " Here the old slaveholder said, " Ah, my girl ! if 
you do not stop that hollering, I will give you something to 
holler for." Poor Jenny, the mother, tried to suppress her 
grief, but all in vain. Harry was gone, and the children 
cried out, " Good by, Harry ; good by ! " The broken- 
hearted mother sobbed forth, " Farewell, my boy ; try to 
meet me in heaven." 

The next of the children was Mary. She was put upon 
the block and sold. Then the mother became so much 
affected that she seemed like one crazy. So the old rough 
slaveholder went to the mother, and began to lay the lash 
upon her; but it mattered not to her — her little Mary was 
gone, and now her turn had come. O, mothers, who sit in 
your comfortable homes, surrounded by your happy chil- 
dren, think of the poor slave mother, robbed so cruelly of 
her all by a fate worse than death ! O, think of her, pray 
for her, toil for her, ever ; teach your blooming daughters 
to think with compassion of their far-off colored sisters, and 
train them up anti-'slavery wom.en ! Teach your sons the 
woes and burning wrongs of slavery ; make them grow up 
earnest, hard-working anti-slavery men. When mothers all 
do this, we may hope yet to live in a. free country. 

Wretched, childless, widowed Jenny was placed upon the 
block for sale. 

Auctioneer — " Gentlemen, here is Jenny, — how much 
for her? She can do good work. Now, gentlemen, her 



SLAVES ON THE AUCTION-BLOCK. 55 

master says he believes her to be a Christian, a very pious 
old woman ; and she will keep every thing straight around 
her. You may depend on her. She will neither lie nor 
steal : what she says may be believed. Just let her pray, 
and she will keep right." 

Here Jesus Christ was sold to the highest bidder ; sold in 
Jenny to keep her honest, to bring gold to the slaveholder. 
Jenny was sold away from all her little children, never to 
see them again. Poor mother ! who had toiled day and 
night to raise her little children, feeling all a mother's affec- 
tion for them, she must see them no more in this world ! 
She feels like great mourning, — " like Rachel weeping for 
her children, and would not be comforted, because they 
were not." So she commends them to the care of the God 
of the widow and the fatherless, by bathing her bosom in 
tears, and giving them the last affectionate embrace, with 
the advice to meet her in heaven. O, the tears of the poor 
slave that are in bottles, to be poured out upon this blood- 
stained nation, as soon as the cup of wrath of the almighty 
Avenger is full, when He shall say, " I have heard the 
groanings of my people, and I will deliver them from the 
oppressor ! " 

Slaveholders carry the price of blood upon their backs 
and in their pockets ; the very bread they eat is the price of 
blood ; the houses they live in are bought with blood ; all 
the education they have is paid for by the blood and sorrows 
of the poor slaves. 

In parting with their friends at the auction-block, the poor 



56 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

blacks have the anticipation of meeting them again in the 
heavenly Canaan, and sing — 



" O, fare you well, O, fare you vrcll ! 
God bless j-ou until we meet again ; 
Hope to meet you in heaven, to part no more. 

Chorus — Sisters, fare you well ; sisters, fare you well ; 
God Almighty bless you, until we meet again. 



Among the slaves, there is a great amount of talent, 
given by the hand of inspiration ; talent, too, which, if 
cultivated, would be of great benefit to the world of man- 
kind. If these large minds are kept sealed up, so that they 
cannot answer the end for which they were made, some- 
body must answer for it on the great day of account. O 
think of this, my readers ! Think of that great day when 
it shall be said to all the world, " Give an account of thy 
stewardship!" Among the slaves may be found talents, 
which, if improved, would be instrumental in carrying the 
blessed Gospel of Truth to distant lands, and in bringing the 
people to acknowledge the true and living God. But all 
has been crushed down by a Christian world, and by the 
Christian Church. With these solemn facts written against 
this nation, see to it, my readers, before this iniquity over- 
throw you, and it be too late to repent. 

The sin of holding slaves is not only against one nation, 
but against the whole world, because we are here to do one 
another good, in treating each other well ; and this is to be 
done by having right ideas of God and his religion. But 
this privilege is denied to three millions and a half of the 



SLAVES ON THE AUCTION-BLOCK. 57 

people of this, our own *' free " land. The slaveholders say 
we have not a true knowledge of religion ; but the great 
Teacher said, when he came on his mission, " The Spirit of 
the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach 
the Gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the bro- 
ken-hearted ; to preach deliverance to the captive, and 
recovering of sight to the blind ; to set at liberty them that 
are bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." 
This ought to be the work of the ministers and the churches. 
Any thing short of this is not the true religion of Jesus. 

This is the great commandment of the New Testament — 
" Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neigh- 
bor as thyself." " Do unto others as ye would that they 
should do to you," is the golden rule for all men to follow. 
By this rule shall all men be judged. We have got to hear, 
" Come, ye blessed ; depart, ye cursed ! " These are my 
convictions, and my belief of the religion of Jesus, the won- 
derful Counsellor of the children of the created Adam, our 
great progenitor. 

In view of these things, I earnestly beg my readers to 
renew their interest in the anti-slavery cause, never turning 
a deaf ear to the pleadings of the poor slave, or to those 
who speak, however feebly, for him. The Anti-Slavery 
cause is the cause of Humanity, the cause of Religion, 
the cause of God ! 



58 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 



CITY AND TOWN SLAVES. 

The slaves in the cities (Petersburg, Richmond and Nor- 
folk, in Virginia) do not fare so hard as on the plantations, 
where they have farming work to do. Most of the town 
and city slaves are hired out, to bring in money to their 
owners. They often have the privilege of hiring themselves 
out, by paying their owners so much, at stated times, — say 
once a week, or once a month. Many of them are employed 
in factories and work at trades. They do very well, for if 
they are industrious, they can earn considerably more than 
is exacted of them by their owners. All can dress well, 
have comfortable homes, and many can read and write. 
Many of them lay up money to purchase either their own 
freedom or that of some dear one. These slaves are not 
subjected to the lash as the poor creatures upon the planta- 
tions are, for their owners would feel (as every man should 
feel, in the true sense) their dignity fallen, their nobility 
sullied, by raising the whip over their human property. 

Slavery, as seen here by the casual observer, might be 
supposed not to be so hard as one would imagine, after all 
the outcry of philanthropists, who " sit in their chimney-cor- 
ners amid the Northern hills, and conjure up demoniac 
shapes and fiendish spirits, bearing the name of slavehold- 
ers." But Slavery is Slavery^ wherever it is found. Dress 
it up as you may, in the city or on the plantation, the hu- 
man being must feel that which binds him to another's will. 



CITY AND TOWN SLAVES. 59 

Be the fetters of silk, or hemp, or iron, all alike warp the 
mind and goad the soul. 

The city slave may escape the evil eye and cruel lash of 
the overseer, but if he offend the all-important master, there 
is retribution for him. " Hand this note to Capt. Heart," 
(of Norfolk,) or "Capt. Thwing," (of Petersburg,) — and 
well does the shrinking slave know what is to follow. 
These last-mentioned gentlemen give their time to, and im- 
prove their talents by, laying the lash upon the naked backs 
of men and women ! 

Ah, my readers! take what side you will of slavery, — 
Dr. Adams's " South side," or the Abolitionist's North side, 
— there is but one side, and that is dark, dark. You may 
think you see bright spots, but look at the surroundings of 
those spots, and you will see nothing but gloom and dark- 
ness. While toiling industriously, and living with a dear 
family in comparative comfort and happiness, the city 
slave (whose lot is thought to be so easy) suddenly finds 
himself upon the auction-block, knocked down to the high- 
est bidder, and carried far and forever from those dearer to 
him than life ; a beloved wife, and tender, helpless chil- 
dren are all bereft, in a moment, of husband, father and 
protector, by a fate worse than death ; — and for what ? To 
gratify some spirit of revenge, or add to the weight of the 
already well-filled purse of some Christian white man, who 
professes ownership in his fellow-man. Wretch ! you may 
command, for a season, the bones and sinews of that 
brother, so infinitely your superior ; but, remember ! that 



60 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

form is animated by a never-dying spirit ; it will not always 
slumber ; a God of infinite love and justice reigns over all, 
and beholds your unholy, inhuman traffic ! Believe you, 
justice will triumph, the guilty shall not go unpunished on 
the earth ; the righteous are to be recompensed, much more 
the wicked and the sinner. 

The whipping-posts are the monuments of the religion 
and greatness of the Southern cities, though none but the 
basest of men officiate there ; yet they think as much of 
their office as a poor conceited dandy would of his, were he 
raised to the Presidency of some great institution. 

Yet, with the knowledge of all these wrongs constantly 
thrust before the people, they wilfully shut their eyes, and 
will not see ; and thousands who walk these shores, free 
men, support by word and deed this abominable wicked- 
ness ! Yes, even the ministers of our religion defend, from 
those temples erected for the worship of the one living and 
true God, this " domestic institution " ! With all their offi- 
cial sanctity, they enter the sacred desk, dedicated to the 
service of a God of tender mercies, and consecrated to the 
work of imparting to those congregated before it the teach- 
ings of that pure and holy One, who preached deliverance 
to the captives, and opened the eyes of the blind, who 
rebuked sin wherever found, — among rulers or servants, in 
the synagogues, the halls of justice, or by the public ways, 
— ^and, instead of imitating their Divine Master, the Ameri- 
can clergy uphold these crying enormities of the " dear 
people," who feed and pamper their luxurious appetites, 



CITY AND TOWN SLAVES. 61 

and clothe them in fine linen. Ah, my readers ! I was 
once a slave, and was a partaker and witness of all its hor- 
rors till I was twenty-seven years old. I, in my ignorance, 
felt that I was called of God to preach His acceptable word 
to this down-trodden race. Through His mercy, I was 
made a free man, and now resolve to devote my life, my 
all, to the spreading of the truth in regard to this great sin 
of our nation. And O ! it makes my heart ache, when I 
see and hear those men, possessed, all their lives, of every 
advantage, receiving their education at our seats of learning, 
stand up before the people, as lights of the world, and de- 
fend the slaveholder, or forever hold their peace in regard 
to the plague-spot of Slavery. 

What right, human or divine, can one man have to 
another, who, like himself, was created in the glorious 
image of our common Father and Creator ? How can 
such men pray, " Our Father ? " How can they talk 
about the human family, and the great day of judgment 
which is to come ? Surely, like the false prophets of old, 
they are deceiving the people. 



62 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 



RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 

Many say the negroes receive religious education — that 
Sabbath worship is instituted for them as for others, and 
were it not for slavery, they would die in their sins — that 
really, the institution of slavery is a benevolent missionary 
enterprise. Yes, they are preached to, and I will give my 
readers some faint glimpses of these preachers, and their 
doctrines and practices. 

In Prince George County, there were two meeting-houses 
intended for public worship. Both were occupied by the 
Baptist denomination. These houses were built by William 
and George Harrison, brothers. Mr. G. Harrison's was 
built on the line of his brother's farm, that their slaves might 
go there on the Sabbath and receive instruction, such as 
slaveholding ministers would give. The prominent preach- 
ing to the slaves was, " ' Servants, obey your masters.' " Do 
not steal or lie^ for this is very wrong. Such conduct is 
sinning against the Holy Ghost, and is base ingratitude to 
your kind masters, ivho feed, clothe, and protect you.'''' All 
Gospel, my readers ! It was great policy to build a church 
for the " dear slave,'''' and allow him the wondrous privilege 
of such holy instruction ! Edioe's slaves sometimes obtained 
the consent of Harrison to listen to the Sabbath teachings so 
generously dealt out to his servants. Shame ! shame ! to 
take upon yourselves the name of Christ, with all that black- 
ness of heart. I should think, when nriaking such statements, 



RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 63 

the slaveholders would feel the rebuke of the Apostle, and 
fall down and be carried out from the face of day, as were 
Ananias and Sapphira, when they betrayed the trust com- 
mitted to them, or refused to bear true testimony in regard 
to that trust. 

There was another church, about fourleen miles from the 
one just mentioned. It was called " Brandon's church," and 
there the white Baptists worshipped. Edloe's slaves some- 
times went there. The colored people had a very small 
place allotted them to sit in, so they used to get as near the 
window as they could to hear the preacher talk to his con- 
gregation. But sometimes, while the preacher was exhort- 
ing to obedience, some of those outside would be selling 
refreshments, cake, candy, and rum, and others would be 
horse-racing. This was the way, my readers, the Word of 
God was delivered and received in Prince George County. 
The Gospel was so mixed with Slavery, that the people 
could see no beauty in it, and feel no reverence for it. 

There was one Brother Shell, who used to preach. One 
Sabbath, while exhorting the poor, impenitent, hard-hearted, 
ungrateful slaves, so much beloved by their masters, to re- 
pentance and prayerfulness, while entreating them to lead 
good lives, that they might escape the wrath (of the lash) to 
come, some of his crocodile tears overflowed his cheek, 
which so affected his hearers, that they shouted and gave 
thanks to God, that brother Shell had at length felt the spirit 
of the Lord in his heart ; and many went away rejoicing 
that a heart of stone had become softened. But, my read- 



64 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE, 

ers, Monday morning, brother Shell was afflicted with his 
old malady, hardness of heart, so that he was obliged to 
catch one of the sisters by the throat, and give her a terrible 
flogging. 

The like of this is the preaching, and these are the men 
that spread the Gospel among the slaves. Ah ! such a Gos- 
pel had better be buried in oblivion, for it makes more 
heathens than Christians. Such preachers ought to be for- 
bidden by the laws of the land ever to mock again at the 
blessed religion of Jesus, which was sent as a light to the 
world. 

Another Sunday, when Shell was expounding, (very 
much engaged was he in his own attempts to enlighten his 
hearers,) there was one Jem Fulcrum became so enlightened 
that he fell from his seat, quite a distance, to the floor. 
Brother Shell thought he had preached unusually well so to 
affect Jem ; so he stopped in the midst of his sermon, and 
asked, "Is that poor Jemmy? poor fellow!" But, my 
readers, he did not know the secret, — hrother Jem had 
fallen asleep. Poor Shell did not do so much good as 
he thought he had, so Monday morning he gave Jem enough 
of his raw-hide spirit to last him all the week ; at least, till 
the next Sabbath, when he could have an opportunity to 
preach to him. 

I could only think, when Shell took so much glory to 
himself for the effect of his preaching upon the slaves, of 
the man who owned colored Pompey. This slaveholder 
was a great fighter, (as most of them are,) and had prepared 



RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 65 

himself for the contest with great care, and wished to 
know how he looked ; so he said, " Pompey, how do I 
look ? " " O, massa, mightyy " What do you mean by 
' mighty,' Pompey ? " " Why, massa, you look noble." 
" What do you mean by ' noble ? ' " " Why, sar, you look 
just like one /io??." " W'hy, Pompey, where have you 
ever seen a lion ? " " I see one down in yonder field the 
other day, massa." " Pompey, you foolish fellow, that 
was di jackass y "Was it, massa.? Well, you look just 
like him." 

This may seem very simple to my readers, but surely, 
nothing more noble than a jackass, without his simplicity and 
innocence, can that man be, who will rise up as an advocate 
of this system of wrong. He who trains his dogs to hunt 
foxes, and enjoys the hunt or the horse-race on the Sab- 
bath, who teaches his blood-hounds to follow upon the 
track of the freedom-loving negro, is not more guilty or 
immoral than he who stands in a Northern pulpit, and 
hunts down the flying fugitive, or urges his hearers to bind 
the yoke again upon the neck of the escaped bondman. 
He who will lisp one word in favor of a system which will 
send blood-hounds through the forests of Virginia, the Caro- 
linas, Georgia, Kentucky, and all the South, chasing human 
beings, (who are seeking the inalienable rights of all men, 
" life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,") possesses no 
heart; and that minister of religion who will do it is unwor- 
thy his trust, knows not what the Gospel teaches, and had 
better turn to the heathen for a religion to guide him nearer 
6* 



66 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

the right ; for the heathen in their blindness have some 
regard for the rights of others, and seldom will they invade 
the honor and virtue of their neighbors, or cause them to be 
torn in pieces by infuriated beasts. 

Mr. James L. Goltney was a Baptist preacher, and was 
employed by Mr. M. B. Harrison to give religious instruc- 
tion to his slaves. He often used the common text : " Ser- 
vants, obey your masters." He would try to make it 
appear that he knew what the slaves were thinking of, — 
telling them they thought they had a right to be free, but he 
could tell them better, — referring them to some passages 
of Scripture. " It is the devil," he would say, " who tells 
you to try and be free." And again he bid them be patient 
at work, warning them that it would be his duty to whip 
them, if they appeared dissatisfied, — all which would be 
pleasing to God ! " If you run away, you will be turned 
out of God's church, until you repent, return, and ask God 
and your master's pardon." In this way he would continue 
to preach his slaveholding gospel. 

This same Goltney used to administer the Lord's Supper 
to the slaves. After such preaching, let no one say that the 
slaves have the Gospel of Jesus preached to them. 

One of the Baptist ministers was named B. Harrison. 
He owned slaves, and was very cruel to them. He came to 
an untimely end. While he was riding out one afternoon, 
the report of a gun was heard, and he was found dead, — 
his brains being blown out. It could never be found who 
killed him, and so he went to judgment, with all his sins on 
his head. 



RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 67 

Mr. L. Hanner was a Christian preacher, selecting texts 
like the following : " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 
because he hath anointed me to preach deliverance to the 
captives, he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted." 
But Hanner was soon mobbed out of Prince George's 
County, and had to flee for his life, and all for preaching a 
true Gospel to colored people. 

I did not know of any other denomination where I lived 
in Virginia, than the Baptists and Presbyterians. Most of 
the colored people, and many of the poorer class of whites, 
were Baptists. 

SABBATH AJVD RELIGIOUS MEETIJSTGS. 

On the Sabbath, after doing their morning work, and 
breakfast over, (such as it is,) that portion of the slaves who 
belong to the church ask of the overseer permission to 
attend meeting. If he is in the mood to grant their request, 
he writes them a pass, as follows : — 

" Permit the hearer to pass and repass to , this even- 
ing, unmolested.'''' 

Should a pass not be granted, the slave lies down, and 
sleeps for the day — the only way to drown his sorrow 
and disappointment. 

Others of the slaves, who do not belong to the church, 
spend their Sabbath in playing with marbles, and other 
games, for each other's food, &;c. 



68 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

Some occupy the time in dancing to the music of a banjo, 
made out of a large gourd. This is continued till the after 
part of the day, when they separate, and gather wood for 
their log-cabin fires the ensuing week. 

Not being allowed to hold meetings on the plantation, the 
slaves assemble in the swamps, out of reach of the patrols. 
They have an understanding among themselves as to the 
time and place of getting together. This is often done by 
the first one arriving breaking boughs from the trees, and 
bending them in the direction of the selected spot. Ar- 
rangements are then made for conducting the exercises. 
They first ask each other how they feel, the state of their 
minds, &c. The male members then select a certain space, 
in separate groups, for their division of the meeting. 
Preaching in order, by the brethren ; then praying and sing- 
ing all round, until they generally feel quite happy. The 
speaker usually commences by calling himself unworthy, and 
talks very slowly, until, feeling the spirit, he grows excited, 
and in a short time, there fall to the ground twenty or thirty 
men and women under its influence. Enlightened people call 
it excitement ; but I wish the same was felt by everybody, 
so far as they are sincere. 

The slave forgets all his suflierings, except to remind others 
of the trials during the past week, exclaiming : " Thank 
God, I shall not live here always ! " Then they pass from 
one to another, shaking hands, and bidding each other fare- 
well, promising, should they meet no more on earth, to strive 
and meet in heaven, where all is joy, happiness and liberty. 
As they separate, they sing a parting hymn of praise. 



RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 69 

Sometimes the slaves meet in an old log-cabin, when they 
find it necessary to keep a watch. If discovered, they 
escape, if possible ; but those who are caught often get 
whipped. Some are willing to be punished thus for Jesus' 
sake. Most of the songs used in worship are composed by 
the slaves themselves, and describe their own sufferings. 
Thus : 

" O, that I had a bosom friend, 
To tell ni\- secrets to, 
One always to depend upon 
In every thing I do ! " 

" How I do wander, up and down I 
I seem a stranger, quite undone; 
None to lend an car to my complaint, 
No one to cheer me, though I faint." 

Some of the slaves sing — 

"No more rain, no more snow, 
No more cowskin on my back ; " 

then they change it by singing — 

"Glory be to God tliat rules on high." 

In some places, if the slaves are caught praying to God, 
they are whipped more than if they had committed a great 
crime. The slaveholders will allow the slaves to dance, 
but do not want them to pray to God. Sometimes, when a 
slave, on being whipped, calls upon God, he is forbidden to 
do so, under threat of having his throat cut, or brains 
blown out. O, reader! this seems very hard, — that slaves 
cannot call on their Maker, when the case most needs it. 
Sometimes the poor slave takes courage to ask his master to 
let him pray, and is driven away with the answer, that if 
discovered praying, his back will pay the bill. 



70 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 



SEVERING OF FAMILY TIES. 

At one time, Mr. George Harrison employed a vessel to 
take some of his slaves down the river, as he wished to sell 
them. The vessel came, and anchored off his farm, as an 
armed fleet would go to make war upon an enemy's country. 
While this vessel was steering off the shore, the very waves 
seemed to speak forth in sorrow and mourning to the dread- 
ing slave. Not one word of warning was given them, until 
the vessel was anchored to receive its living freight. Hus- 
bands were thrust on board, leaving their wives behind ; 
vi^ives were torn from the arms which should have protected 
them, and hurried into that living grave ; children were torn 
shrieking from their parents, never to see them more ; ten- 
der maidens were dragged from the manly hearts which 
loved them ; the ardent lover was scoffingly compelled to 
break from the entwining arms of his loved one, and bid a 
final adieu to all the world held dear to his heart. O, ye 
defenders of Slavery ! tarry here, place yourselves here, in 
the situation of these miserable beings ! Pro-slavery men 
and women ! for one moment only, in imagination, stand 
surrounded by your loved ones, and behold them, one by 
one, torn from your grasp, or you rudely and forcibly carried 
from them — how, think you, you would bear it ? Would 
you not rejoice if one voice, even, were raised in your be- 
half ? were your wife, the partner of your bosom, the mother 
of your babes, thus ruthlessly snatched from you, were your 



SEVERING OF FAMILY TIES. 71 

beloved children stolen before your eyes, would you not 
think it sufficient cause for a nation's wail ? Yea, and a 
nation's interference ! What better are you than those 
poor down-trodden children of humanity? With them, such 
scenes are constantly transpiring. 

Mothers ! while fondling your darling babes in your 
arms, and watching, with the eye of a mother's affection, their 
little mental dawnings, do you ever think of the poor slave 
mother, who, with equal affection, looks upon her oflfspring, 
yet, with a heart full of agony, prays God to take it to him- 
self, before the evil day comes, when it must be goaded and 
lashed, and then forbidden every consolation of affection ? 
O, think of her, pray for her, toil for her ! 

Fathers ! you who stand before your fellow-men and 
uphold this hellish institution, while your blooming daughters 
are before you, look at them, and think ! — in your own land 
are thousands of daughters, as lovely, as much beloved, as 
yours, whose parents cannot protect them, whose parents 
cannot say, " My daughter ! beware of the tempter's snare ! 
My daughter ! fly to these arms for protection ! My daughter ! 
pour out your sorrows upon your mother's bosom ; into her 
listening ear tell your tale of wrongs ; she will guide, she 
will comfort you ! " No, but they must look tamely on and 
witness their degradation ; they must behold them become 
the spoiler's prey, and presume not to utter one word in 
their behalf. Why ? They are slaves ! the property of 
free-horn American citizens ; and why should we infringe 
upon their rights 7 Ah, father ! could you see your daughter 



72 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

in such a situation, and not cry aloud for vengeance ? And 
what better are you than the poor slave, whose only sin is, 
that his skin is, perhaps, one shade darker than yours — 
perhaps not even that ? 

Young man ! will you defend Slavery ? Will you cast 
your vote for a slaveholder ? Think, before you speak ; 
consider well before you act. Could you have that fair 
young being you one day hope to call your wife torn from 
you, and publicly sold to the service of a debauchee ? 
Would you think it too much to call on the laws of the land 
for redress? Would you think it asking too much to call 
out the whole military force of the country to the rescue ? 
Ah, no ! And could you restrain yourselves, and behold 
the lov-ed forms of your aged parents reeking with their own 
blood, drawn forth by one who calls himself their master ? 
Indeed, no! no dungeon deep and loathsome enough for 
such an one ; no gibbet too high to swing him on, as an 
example to all of his kind. And what better are your loved 
ones than those millions of colored suffering brothers and 
sisters ? Ask no more, " Why meddle with slavery ? " As 
you would receive assistance, give it to others. 

The vessel to which I have alluded, anchored by Harri- 
son's estate, was made ready to sail on Sunday, that all 
might witness her departure. Imagination cannot conceive, 
nor language describe, those parting scenes. When all 
were on board, a dead silence reigned. No sound, except 
the harsh voice of the captain, as he gave his orders, and 
the coarse jests of the sailors, was heard. Slowly the vessel 



SEVERING OF FAMILY TIES. 73 

crept along the shore, like some guilty thing, trying to hide 
itself from the light of day. Then pealed forth upon the 
Sabbath air a cry of wo that rent the heavens, and was 
registered there. " Good by, my husband ! " " Farewell, 
my wife ! " " Good by, children ! we must hope to meet in 
heaven ! " With shouts like these, they gazed upon each 
other as long as the vessel was in sight. Then, indeed, all 
was over. " Gone, gone, forever," or " left behind," 
" going, going, farther and farther from the loved ones," 
these were the cruel reflections. Some returned to their 
deserted cabins, not one loved one to meet; some fathers 
drew around them their little ones, bereft of a mother's 
love ; wives sat and wept alone ; children wandered about 
without parents, or any one to love them. O, men with 
hearts, how can you be unconcerned and careless regarding 
this curse of your country .'' O, my readers, I wish you eould 
enter into my feelings, or rather, that my feelings might 
enter into your souls, on this subject ! God, in His infinite 
wisdom, created the Ethiopian race with skins of a darker 
hue than the European. He did so with an all-wise pur- 
pose ; but was that purpose that they might be the subjects 
of every outrage from their fellow-men, from generation to 
generation .'* O, surely not ! What crime can it be to be 
born with a dark skin ? Who is responsible ? The Creator 
alone. But who are responsible for the crimes perpetrated 
against them ? The slaveholder and his supporters ! 

This scene of the separation upon James River, where all 
the tenderest ties of the human heart were sundered, was 
7 



74 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

but one among the very many which occur daily. Go with 
the poor bereaved ones the next morning, as they rise from 
their disturbed slumbers, to commence the day of toil. The 
sight of the master is gall to their wounded spirits ; they 
look not upon the overseer except with absolute horror ; 
but if they falter, they must feel the lash. Even the little 
crouching, grieving children, are forbidden to weep for 
their dear parents. The lash, the curse, are their only con- 
solations, except when they can crawl by themselves, and 
pour out their woes into the sympathising ear of Jesus, their 
great Comforter. 

My father was living at the time these slaves of Har- 
rison were sold. He was one of his drivers, so he was not 
sold with them ; but he had two brothers who were, and 
with a heavy heart he had to witness their departure, with- 
out daring to say his soul was his own. Monday, he must 
return to his disgraceful business of whipping his fellows; 
but what could he do? He must obey his master, or suffer 
a worse penalty than he could inflict upon others. Some 
may say, while sitting comfortably among their dear friends, 
" We would die before we would be guilty of beating, at the 
command of another, our own kinsmen, perhaps our own 
children." Ah ! it is easy to suppose and assert what you 
would do, while you are safe ; but yow are not a slave ! 
Your feelings of generous affection may well take deep root, 
shoot upward and flourish ; they are never harrowed up by 
the sight of tortures you are unable to prevent, never trod- 
den upon and crushed into the dust. You may boast of 



COLORED DRIVERS. 75 

your manly courage and your willingness to die ; it may be 
the poor slave-driver would crave the privilege of dying for 
his loved ones, but would it profit those left behind, so long 
as the lash and a white overseer remained ? No ! no ! 
hands without a heart might use it, — there would be no 
escape. 

Many say the slave on the Southern plantation is the 
happiest creature alive. They don 't know ; they don't lift 
the cover; they don 'l see them always. I have seen many 
a white man carry a smiling face to the world, when his 
heart was aching and cankering in wretchedness; I have 
heard a merry laugh from a maniac, whose brain had been 
crazed by mental anguish, but I never supposed he was 
happy; — and I have told you, in another place, how these 
slaves are prepared by rum for company and spectators. 

COLORED DRIVERS. 

The colored overseers are not over the slaves because 
they wish it, but are so placed against their will. When 
they first commence to lash the backs of their fellows, they 
are like soldiers when they first go to the battle-field ; they 
dread and fear the contest, until they hear the roaring of the 
cannon, and smell the powder, and mark the whizzing ball ; 
then they rush into the battle, forgetful of all human sym- 
pathy while in the fight. So it is with the slave-drivers. 
They hear the angry tones of the slaveholder^'s voice, 
admonishing them that if they refuse to whip, they must 



76^ SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

take it themselves. After receiving the instructions of their 
owners, they must forget even their own wives and children, 
and do all they can for " Master." If they do not do this, 
they must receive all that would be given the others. In 
this manner, their hearts and consciences are hardened, 
and they become educated to whipping, and lose all human 
feeling. 

This is the way the slaveholders take to hide their own 
wickedness. They say the colored driver is more cruel 
than the white overseer, and use this as an argument against 
the poor colored man, to show how cruelly they would treat 
each other if they had the power. Pardon me, my readers, 
if I say this is an insult to God ; since my own experience 
teaches me better. Reader, when they say that colored 
drivers are worse than white, the question may well be 
asked. Why is this? Is it the fault of the colored people, or 
is it the fault of the white man } Good sense answers to 
every thinking mind, and says the poor negro is not the 
greatest transgressor here, but the white men are the 
tyrannical instigators of this wrong. 

I have known many instances where slaves were put to 
death by the overseers, without any notice being taken of it 
by those who administer the laws. Of course, as the word 
of a black man is not received against a white, nothing 
could be effected, even if the murderer were arrested. I 
will give a few cases that came within my own knowledge. 
James Lewis was shot down by an overseer, and killed. 
Dick Never was shot down by Owen Woodcock, and killed. 



MENTAL CAPACITY OF THE SLAVE. 77 

Ham was shot by Bishop, and killed. A woman was shot 
dead by our overseer Hobbs. Wyatt Lee was shot, but not 
killed. William Painting was shot. 

These, my readers, are facts, which will speak for them- 
selves when the great day of reckoning shall come ; and 
those black-hearted sinners will surely be punished, for no 
sinner escapes finally. If the laws of Virginia and other 
slaveholdijig States allow them to go unscathed, the eternal 
laws of justice and right will not. 



MENTAL CAPACITY OF THE SLAVE. 

Much is said about the inability of the slaves to learn 
any thing but drudgery ; that they are fit for nothing else; 
that those who have ever shown any intellectual power are 
of mixed blood, not the pure African. This I deny, and 
I will prove that the African is capable of the highest cul- 
ture. As a people, how can they be expected to have 
enlightened minds, when they are denied every privilege of 
learning ? They never have teachers, books are not within 
their reach, — surely, they would be wonderful beings, if, 
amid all their hardships and privations, they should show 
themselves scholars ! Their ideas of God, heaven, and 
religion, are very simple and childlike ; but they are the 
conceptions of their own uninstructed minds. 
7* 



78 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

The world sees, in the person of Frederick Douglass, 
what the son of Ethiopia may become. He had no advan- 
tages in his youth, but now, before he is old, his fame as an 
orator has spread over this land, extended itself across the 
Atlantic, and carried him to the shores of the old world, 
where his eloquence, intelligence, and worth, gained for 
himself and family a name which will adorn the pages of 
history long after his voice is hushed in death. Had Doug- 
lass been educated in youth, there is not a statesman on this 
continent who would have stood above him. 

Then there is Rev. Samuel R. Ward, an unmixed Afri- 
can, who has made great proficiency in learning. His 
powers as a public speaker are truly captivating, and so 
ably does he write and speak, that even his enemies 
acknowledge him to be a man of uncommon power. 

There is, also. Rev. Henry Highland Garnett, a son of 
the same race. He is a scholar, a gentleman and an ora- 
tor, as all who have seen and heard him admit. 

These men are but fesv out of many, and they prove to 
the world that the negro is as capable of high intelleelual 
culture as his Saxon brother. 

It must be acknowledg-ed by every historian, that Ethio- 
pia was once the most civilized nation upon earth, and that 
the enlightened nations of the present day are indebted to 
her for many of the arts of civilization. The people of 
that country were the first to work in brass, iron, and other 
metals, and were really the first to invent writing, for they 
used hieroglyphics to express words and ideas, which no 



MENTAL CAPACITY OF THE SLAVE. 79 

Other nation had then done. Let it not be said, hen, that 
the negro cannot be educated. Free the slaves, give them 
equal opportunities with the whites, and I warrant you, they 
will not fall short in comparison. 

I do protest against this great evil of Slavery in this civil- 
ized land of America, and solemnly appeal to those having 
authority in behalf of three millions and a half of my suffer- 
ing brethren, who are held by the galling yoke of bondage, 
that this great evil may be done away, before the retribu- 
tions of a God of justice overtake this blackest of sins, and 
scathe the sinner root and branch. 

I appeal to the Christian Church to lift up its voice, that 
it may be heard from shore to shore in defence of the 
oppressed. 

I appeal to the men of America every where to help this 
cause. 

I appeal to the women of America, that they plead for 
their suffering sisters, toiling and weeping under cruel task- 
masters in the sunny South. 

I appeal to little children, that they remember in their 
prayers those little colored brothers and sisters who are 
robbed of their parents, have no homes for their weary little 
frames, no affection to make life lovely to them, no one to 
teach them and guide them to the Fountain of all Truth. 

I appeal to high Heaven to listen to the heart-breaking 
cries of the captive negro, and pray the great Jehovah to 
soften the hard hearts of the many Pharaohs, that they may 
let the people go free ! 



80 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 



THE BLOOD OF THE SLAVE. 

The blood of the slave cries unto God from the ground, 
and it calls loudly for vengeance on his adversaries. 

The blood of the slave cries unto God from the rice 
swamps. 

The blood of the slave cries unto God from the cotton 
plantations. 

The blood of the slave cries unto God from the tobacco 
farms. 

The blood of the slave cries unto God from the sugar 
fields. 

The blood of the slave cries unto God from the corn 
fields. 

The blood of the slave cries unto God from the whipping- 
post. 

The blood of the slave cries unto God from the auction- 
block. 

The blood of the slave cries unto God from the gallows. 

The blood of the slave cries unto God from the hunting- 
dogs that run down the poor fugitive. 

The blood of men, women and babes cries unto God from 
Texas to Maine. Wherever the Fugitive Slave Law reaches, 
the voice of its victims is heard. 

The mighty God, the great Jehovah, speaks to the con- 
sciences of men, and says, " Let my people go free ! " 
And the slaveholder answers, " Who is Jehovah, that I 



THE BLOOD OF THE SLAVE. 81 

should obey him ? " Theo the Anti-Slavery voice is heard, 
calling, " Awake ! Awake ! and cry aloud against this great 
evil ; lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show the people 
their sins, and the nation its guilt. Pray that God may have 
mercy upon us. O, forgive us this great evil, — the evil of 
selling, whipping, and killing men, women and children ! 
O, God of justice ! give Uis hearts and consciences to feel the 
deep sorrow of this great evil that we have so long indulged 
in ! Lo ! we have sinned against Heaven ; we have sinned 
against light, — against the civilized world. We have sinned 
against that declaration which our fathers put forth to the 
world, ' All men are created equal.'' O, God ! forgive us this 
great sin ! O, let this prayer be heard ! " 



82 SKETCHES OF SLAVE LIFE. 

"WHERE IS THY BROTHER]" 

BY MRS. E. L. FOLLEN. 

*' TVhat mean ye, that ye bruise and bind 
My people?" saith the Lord; 

*' And starve your craving brother's mind, 
Who asks to hear my word ? 

What mean ye, that ye make them toil 
Through long and hopeless years ; 

And shed, like rain, upon your soil, 
Their blood and bitter tears 1 

What mean ye, that ye dare to rend 

The tender mother's heart ? 
Brother from sister, friend from friend. 

How dare ye bid them part ? 

What mean ye, when God's bounteous hand 

To you so much has given, 
That from the slave that tills your land, 

Ye keep both earth and heaven? " 

When, at the Judgment, God shall call, 
*' Where is thy brother ? " — say! 

What mean ye to the Judge of all 
To answer, on that day 1 



54 








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